Our first week of the legislative session is off to a fast start. It appears my first legislative vote will be changing our State Constitution with a resolution called, “Marsy’s Law.”
The new Legislature always has a high-priority issue that needs to be addressed immediately. In 2007, as a freshman State Representative, I voted to create the Government Accountability Board (GAB) in response to a caucus scandal years before I took office.
Democrats in the State Senate and Republicans in the State Assembly worked together for the nation’s first bipartisan ethics and elections board. It was a model of good government for the nation. My first vote was something to be proud of as a new legislator -- it was because we needed it, not because people or organizations with deep pockets wanted it.
Fast forward to 2019. I was hopeful my first vote would be on something equally important - like protecting voting rights or passing redistricting reform.
When I first heard about protecting the rights of victims with Marsy’s Law, it seemed like a great way to start my term as State Senator. As I started asking questions, I learned it is far more complicated.
In 1983 Marsy Nicholas was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in California. One week later, Marsy’s mother and brother ran into the murderer in a grocery store. They were overcome with fear and pain not knowing he was out on bail. This traumatic experience led to her brother, now a billionaire investor, to spend millions of dollars in campaign contributions and lobbying efforts to pass state constitutional changes across the country.
Here in Wisconsin, we have some of the strongest protections for victims in the country. Unfortunately, other states did not. That’s why California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota passed versions of Marsy’s Law.
Our judicial branch of government is the impartial arbiter for balancing the rights of victims and the accused. This concept has been depicted for centuries with blind statutes and scales showing balance. Unfortunately, money, emotion and power influence the legislative branch of government. Our job as legislators is to create laws governing our justice system and to keep the scales of justice balanced above all else.
We should be cautious when approached by a national advocacy group with money asking for a “one-size fits all approach” to our State’s Constitution. Change to our State’s Constitution demands heavy scrutiny. Even more scrutiny should be given to rushing changes to our State Constitution. After all, a constitutional change is our way of “writing it in stone.”
Each constitutional change in Wisconsin needs to be passed by two consecutive sessions of the Legislature before being offered as a referendum to voters during a statewide election. If the new 2019-20 Legislature passes Marsy’s Law by the end of January, it will land on the spring election ballot in April, leaving voters little time to learn about its effects.
What do you think? I want to hear from you. I’ve heard the countless gut-wrenching stories about victims in Wisconsin seeking justice. I’ve read the editorials across the state cautioning lawmakers. I heard the pleas of local district attorneys asking for additional resources to help victims.
My hope is that we can have a conversation about what’s best for helping victims. How do we protect justice for victims while maintaining the rights of the accused? I’m open to considering changes to our Constitution. But instead of getting it done quickly, we need to get it done right.
Memberships
Voter ID Advocate Jeff Stone Denies ALEC influence on Wisconsin's Voter ID Law
That's a lie...I wrote the Bill myself! ALEC had no influence on Wisconsin's Bill!!
This evening, November 1st, 2012, after a Candidate forum in Greenfield Wisconsin, Representative Jeff Stone, who sponsored Wisconsin's Voter ID Law, called a voter from his district a liar for saying that the ID law was, in fact, ALEC authored and that Stone had introduced a version of the corporate approved Model Legislation as his own.
Let's review the ALEC voter ID legislation.
ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force has been developing Model Voter ID legislation for at least as long as Jeff Stone has been affiliated with ALEC.
At the 2009 ALEC meeting in Atlanta the Public Safety and Elections Task Force approved the “Voter ID Act”. According the the investigative reporters at news21, this was a Photo ID Bill Modeled on the Indiana Voter ID Bill
In 2009, Representative Stone received a travel reimbursement from ALEC.
In 2010 Walker and the Republicans took control of both houses in Wisconsin as part of the “Tea Party Wave”.
In the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions 62 Photo ID bills were proposed in 37 Republican controlled states, including Wisconsin. All of the legislators, like Representative Stone, had some contact with ALEC.
At the Candidate Forum on November 1, 2012 State Senator Mary Lazich stated that she was confident that the Wisconsin Voter ID law will eventually be found constitutional because it was modeled after the Indiana Voter ID Bill.
Recap:
In 2009 ALEC develops Model Voter ID legislation in based on Indiana's Voter ID law.
In 2009 Jeff Stone receives ALEC travel reimbursement.
In 2011-2012 legislative session Jeff Stone proposed Voter ID legislation similar to 62 Photo ID Bills in 36 other Republican controlled States
On November 1st, 2012 Senator Lazich states that she worked with Jeff Stone and they deliberately modeled it after the Indiana Voter ID law.
On November 1st, 2012, Jeff Stone denied, in front of voters from his assembly district, that ALEC had any influence on his legislation.
This is reminiscent of Tommy Thompson's statement:
"I always loved going to [ALEC] meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that it's mine."
Senator Jeff Smith has served in the State Senate since 2019. Senator Smith has worked tirelessly in his community on public education opportunities, health care access and affordability, redistricting reform, protections for water and helping people run for elected office.
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