LETTERS: Support Marsy’s Law

As a survivor of violent crime, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to area Representative Andre Jacque for supporting Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin and taking the Stand With Crime Victims Pledge. His support means the world to survivors like me, and all of those who have joined the fight to better Wisconsin’s communities.

In 2004 I became a victim when I was kidnapped, beaten with a baseball bat, suffocated, dumped in a snow-filled trash can, and left to die in a frozen storage shed. I saw very clearly how victims need more of a voice in the legal process that followed.

Today, I am a strong supporter of Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin, a proposal to place additional victims’ rights in the state Constitution and strengthen the rights that are already in it, so that victims’ rights are not automatically trumped in the courtroom by those of their attackers. This bipartisan legislation has passed key hurdles in the state Legislature and was approved in both houses with broad support from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. But there are many more votes to go to make this a reality – in order to amend our state Constitution and guarantee victims’ rights like those criminals already have, Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin must be passed twice in the state Legislature, then supported at the ballot box by voters.

We’ve made great strides in our effort to strengthen the rights of crime victims, but we have a long way to go to ensure that Marsy’s Law becomes a reality in Wisconsin. Thanks to Representative Jacque we are one step closer to making that happen.

Teri Jendusa-Nicolai

Waterford, Wis.