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House Bill 3003




    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HM 3003

        By Representative Saunders






  1                          House Memorial

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United

  3         States, urging the Congress to act on an

  4         amendment to the Constitution of the United

  5         States relating to the rights of crime victims.

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  7         WHEREAS, in 1988, an overwhelming majority of the

  8  citizens of the State of Florida voted to amend the

  9  Constitution of the State of Florida to provide that victims

10  of crime or their lawful representatives, including the next

11  of kin of homicide victims, are entitled to the right to be

12  informed of and to be present and to be heard when relevant at

13  all crucial stages of criminal proceedings to the extent that

14  these rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights

15  of the accused, and

16         WHEREAS, in 1982, the President's Task Force on Victims

17  of Crime recommended an amendment to the Constitution of the

18  United States relating to victims' rights, and

19         WHEREAS, at least 28 of the states have now passed

20  amendments to their respective state constitutions in regard

21  to the rights of crime victims, and

22         WHEREAS, an amendment to the Constitution of the United

23  States establishing and protecting the rights of crime victims

24  is an essential step in our efforts to balance the scales of

25  justice, and

26         WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the

27  United States, amendments to the Constitution of the United

28  States may be proposed by the Congress or, upon the

29  application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states,

30  the Congress shall call a constitutional convention for the

31  purpose of proposing amendments, and

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HM 3003

    550-131C-98






  1         WHEREAS, there is currently before the Congress for

  2  consideration a proposed victims' rights amendment, NOW,

  3  THEREFORE,

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  5  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  7         That the Congress of the United States is requested to

  8  act on the proposed victims' rights amendment that is before

  9  it and to submit to the states an amendment to the Sixth

10  Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

11         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution

12  be dispatched to the President of the United States, to the

13  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the

14  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of

15  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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