On Nov. 5, voters in Pennsylvania will face an important choice: whether or not to approve an amendment to the state Constitution. The benign title of the legislation, the Pennsylvania Marsy’s Law Crime Victims Rights Amendment, belies the dangerous language contained within the measure. Pennsylvania voters from across the political spectrum must understand the true nature of this amendment and defeat it.

If one is not familiar with the text of Pennsylvania’s Marsy’s Law, it wouldn’t seem like very much is at stake. A majority of Americans believe that crime is increasing, that they are highly likely to be victims of crime, and that criminals are frequently released from prison after short sentences and usually reoffend. While the opposite of each of these perceptions is true, voters will surely have them in mind when they decide whether or not to take the commonwealth sliding down a slippery slope.

Marsy’s Law could severely limit the Fifth Amendment rights of Pennsylvanians and possibly do away with our Sixth and Eighth amendment rights. The proposed measure gives not necessarily victims but accusers the right “to refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request made by the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused.” The right to confront one’s accuser is the very essence of the Sixth Amendment and a critical part of due process, which is enshrined in the Fifth Amendment.

This single phrase is an outrageous usurpation of the most basic, fundamental rights of all Americans. Marsy’s Law does not stop its assault on the Constitution there, however. The disingenuously named Crime Victims Rights Amendment creates the right of accusers to “have the safety of the victim and victim’s family considered when setting the bail amount and release conditions for the accused,” in defiance of the Eighth Amendment and centuries of legal precedent. Let us remember these are rights granted to one who accuses another of a crime, whatever the merits of the accusation.

Analyses from police departments across the country report that, in well over half of violent crime cases, victims have a criminal record. This is not to say that any victim deserves to be victimized, but to highlight the obvious potential for abuse should this measure be approved. One need only accuse another of a crime to be granted a plethora of powerful rights to wield as a weapon against that other. We would also do well to remember that half of all adult Americans have an immediate family member currently or formerly incarcerated.

Victims of crime have powerful advocates in Pennsylvania’s police, district attorneys and attorney general. Exceptional cases in which those advocates have failed victims are memorable for their rarity, which itself is a cogent argument in opposition to this proposed amendment. More urgently, if this measure is approved, mere accusations could strip Pennsylvanians of our rights to bail, to confront our accuser and due process in a court of law.

Voters in Pennsylvania should reject this proposed amendment on Nov. 5.

Elijah Bray is a Philadelphia-based artist and freelance writer.

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