AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
November 4, 2019
Issue
Court Says Marsy’s Law Amendment Vote Will Not Be Counted, But . . .
Details
. . . it will still appear on the ballot tomorrow and it is important that you vote on the question. Last Wednesday Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler granted a preliminary injunction in favor of those who challenged the ballot question and ordered that votes cast on the issue not be counted until the case has worked its way through the court system.
Judge Ceiler prohibited a stay of her order pending appeal, thus on Friday Attorney General Josh Shapiro appealed to the PA Supreme Court in an attempt to get Judge Ceisler’s decision overturned. The court has not said when it will rule.
Some of the issues with the proposed constitutional amendment:
- It is overly broad and does not allow voters to know each individual item contained in the constitutional amendment. Remember you will read 73 words on the ballot tomorrow, but the entire amendment is almost 500 words!! Here’s the link to the entire amendment (the underlined sections are what would be added to the PA Constitution, if it is approved)
- The proposed amendment contains 15 changes, but you will only read 8 on the ballot tomorrow. Even 8 changes violate the single subject rule! Constitutionally, voters should vote on each individual change.
- The amendment puts the accused in the category of criminal and cements the accuser as the victim. Not all accused are guilty. Not all accusers tell the truth.
- Shapiro argues in his appeal that because the entire amendment deals with victims’ rights, it is only one subject! However, Judge Ceisler notes that the proposed amendment addresses bail, discovery, due process, restitution, privacy rights and evidence control.
- Why the big push to get this language put into the PA Constitution making it much harder to change, than simply enforcing the already existing Crime Victims Act?
- This is part of a national effort by billionaire Henry Nicholas (Marsy was his sister who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1983.) Marsy’s Law For All Foundation funds 97% of the effort to get these amendments passed. Nichols funds the foundation with his own money. Their foundation’s PA affiliate report to the PA Department of State on September 24, 2019 shows they received $3,600,000.00 in cash donations and $2,400,000.00 in in-kind services for a total of $6,000,000.00. That’s right, six million dollars and between December 11, 2017 and March 31, 2019, they spent $848,960 on lobbying. Are you receiving phone calls from Kelsey Grammar or seen his TV ad? Guess who’s paying for them!!
Additionally, Trevor Louden lists these Democratic Socialists candidates that will appear on tomorrow’s ballot across the state:
Connor O’Hanlon
for Doylestown Supervisor. Member of BuxMont DSA.
Marisa Ziegler for Parkland School Board.
Kendra Brooks for Philadelphia City Council At-Large.
Nicolas O’Rourke for Philadelphia City Council At-Large.
Randall Taylor for Pittsburgh City Council District 9.
Darnika Reed for Woodland Hills School Board Director
Action Steps
Check out the information and be an informed voter tomorrow. Feel free to share!
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