Dems Vote Against Victim Rights

GOP pulls bill to amend loophole

The State House Republican Caucus has released the following statement:

"House Republicans tried to protect victims of crimes last night by pulling SB 453, SD 2, that would have provided victims the choice to be notified if there were any change in the status of their perpetrator. The expanded definition of "major developments" would include changes resulting from unfitness to stand trial, transfer to the state hospital or other psychiatric facility, or regaining fitness to process. In a partisan move, the majority democrats voted down the bill.

"This measure doesn't deal with some hypothetical situation," said Rep. Galen Fox, House Republican Leader. "Seven and half years ago, a well known volunteer worker, Janice Carter, was stabbed to death at a Punchbowl bus stop while waiting to volunteer at Queen's Hospital. Her slayer was charged with murder. After a mental examination, a state circuit judge determined the man to be mentally unfit to stand trial. Ms. Carter's children felt safe since the murdered had already be committed involuntarily twice to mental institutions and they thought this time he would probably never be freed. They were wrong. Their mother's killer was released after three years because he had been declared unfit to stand trial and the courts dismissed the second-degree murder charge against him. When that happened, no longer did the City Prosecutor's Office have to be notified of his release. It was not required that the victim's family be notified, and they were shocked to learn that their mother's killer had been set free. Shortly after his release, this man launched another unprovoked attack on a woman -- this time in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He hasn't been seen since."

We need to close this loophole in the law. We want the law to expand the definition of "major developments" to include such things as unfitness to stand trial or being transferred to a pyschiatric facility so the victim's family would be notified as well as the Prosecutor's office. This is a long overdue amendment to the Victims Rights Act.

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