Attorney General Mike DeWine urges voters to support Marsy’s Law in New Issue 1 Ad

COLUMBUS - The Yes on State Issue 1 campaign took to the airwaves this week with a television advertisement featuring Ohio’s top law enforcement official--Attorney General Mike DeWine.

In the ad, DeWine makes a direct plea to voters urging them to support State Issue 1. “Marsy’s Law will ensure crime victims are treated with dignity and respect and will guarantee them enforceable rights,” DeWine says in the ad. “I urge voters to vote yes on Issue 1, Marsy’s Law.”

The ad is part of a significant broadcast and digital buy across the Buckeye State.

If voters approve the proposal this fall, State Issue 1 would grant a series of constitutional protections to crime victims and their immediate families for the first time in Ohio’s history.

Under the amendment, crime victims would have the right to notification of all proceedings as well as be guaranteed the right to be heard at every step of the process. Victims would also have the right to have input on all plea deals for offenders as well as the right to restitution resulting from the financial impact of the crime. A crime victim who feels their rights are being violated could go before a judge to ask that their rights be protected.

State Issue 1 is supported by a broad bipartisan coalition of more than 315 elected officials and law enforcement leaders across Ohio, including DeWine and Governor John Kasich.

The effort to place State Issue 1 in the state constitution comes after similar ballot issues were approved in California, Illinois, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Marsy’s Law movement began in 1983, when a young woman named Marsy Nicholas was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend. Only a week after her murder, Marsy’s mother and brother, Henry T. Nicholas, walked into a grocery store where they saw the accused murderer. The family, who had just come from a visit to Marsy’s grave, had no idea the accused murderer had been released on bail.