NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The last of three constitutional questions facing Tennessee voters Tuesday would rewrite the rights the state guarantees to crime victims, a section that has been in the Constitution since 1998.
Amendment 3 would strike Article I, Section 35 and replace it with a longer list of 13 rights. The new ones include fair treatment, a voice in the parole process, protection from harassment, intimidation and abuse, and notice of the shortest sentence an offender will serve along with the scheduled release date. Officials deciding whether to free an offender would also have to consider public safety and the safety of victims and their relatives.
Several current rights would stay or be spelled out more clearly. Victims could still learn about court proceedings, attend public hearings, find out about a release, transfer or escape, confer with prosecutors, speak at sentencing or release decisions, and seek restitution and a speedy end to the case. The new section would also reach juvenile delinquency cases.
The text says it does not limit the power of prosecutors or courts, and it gives no one a right to sue the state for damages. Lawmakers would set out how victims can assert the rights.
Supporters argue the 1998 rights have been hard to enforce and that the new version names the hearings where victims can be heard, including plea, sentencing and parole. Critics warn it could strain a defendant’s due process, add court costs with no clear funding source and freeze a list that ordinary law could improve more easily.
The Fiscal Review Committee put the cost at a one-time $9,400 for local governments to print a longer sample ballot. The proposal passed the 113th General Assembly as House Joint Resolution 94 and the 114th as Senate Joint Resolution 9.
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