Title: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the rights of crime victims.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Constitutional Amendment

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting the United States or a state from denying or abridging certain rights of crime victims (e.g., the right to be notified of proceedings related to the offense).

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 93 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 93

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
                  protect the rights of crime victims.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 3, 2017

    Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself and Mr. Royce of California) 
  submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
                  protect the rights of crime victims.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled   (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. The following rights of a crime victim, being capable 
of protection without denying the constitutional rights of the accused, 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State. The 
crime victim shall have the rights to reasonable notice of, and shall 
not be excluded from, public proceedings relating to the offense, to be 
heard at any release, plea, sentencing, or other proceeding involving 
any right established by this article, to proceedings free from 
unreasonable delay, to reasonable notice of the release or escape of 
the accused, to due consideration of the crime victim's safety, 
dignity, and privacy, and to restitution. The crime victim or the crime 
victim's lawful representative has standing to assert and enforce these 
rights. Nothing in this article provides grounds for a new trial or any 
claim for damages. Review of the denial of any right established 
herein, which may include interlocutory relief, shall be subject to the 
standards of ordinary appellate review.
    ``Section 2. For purposes of this article, a crime victim includes 
any person against whom the criminal offense is committed or who is 
directly and proximately harmed by the commission of an act, which, if 
committed by a competent adult, would constitute a crime.
    ``Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it has been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the several States within 14 years after the date of 
its submission to the States by the Congress. This article shall take 
effect on the 180th day after the date of its ratification.''.
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