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Marsys law (issue 1) passed with 83 percent voting in favor of the issue. The law will repeal & replace existing language in Ohio’s Constitution.

This law will provide crime victims with specific rights in addition to Ohio’s Victim Identification Notification Service (VINE) that is used to update victims on their offender’s status.

Becky Filer, Director of Community Justice and a graduate of Ohio University, is pursuing her love for helping people, specifically crime victims. “I think this is really important,” says Becky. Becky has served as the Community Justice for the past 4 years to ensure victims are aware of their rights.”Often times victims rights are quickly overlooked and people are very concerned about the rights of an accused but a victim at the end of the day did not ask for this to happen to them and I think it is really important that they are heard and seen as much or as little as they wish to be”

Marsy’s law is going to do just that. This law will allow victims’ attorneys to file a motion in court if they feel their rights have been ignored.

Marsy’s law is an addition to VINE that notifies victims with updates on their offender.

“It is an automated system so if someones is incarcerated at a jail or going to be incarcerated in prison serving their sentence we can register the victim’s phone number for a phone call or text or email so if the offender’s custody transfers or if they’re released from custody they are notified,” says Alli Purcell, Director of Keller Blackburn’s Victim Assistance Program.