A bipartisan pair of Georgia legislators on Thursday officially got the ball rolling for Marsy’s Law for Georgia. State Reps. Don Parsons (R-Marietta) and Virgil Fludd (D-Tyrone) introduced the bill that would pave the wave for Georgia voters to put crime victims’ rights into the state constitution.

For Parsons, victims’ rights is a familiar cause:

In Georgia, people convicted or accused of crimes have constitutional rights, but their victims do not,” said Parsons. “In 2010, I sponsored and passed a bill that put comprehensive victims’ rights into state law. In these six years, we’ve shown we can prioritize the needs of victims and their families without putting an undue burden on the criminal justice system. We know it works; now it’s time to join the majority of states by putting victims’ rights in the state constitution.

Fludd emphasized the need for equal rights: 

The highest rights in our society are embedded in our constitution,” noted Fludd, Democratic Caucus chairman. “Marsy’s Law gives victims the same rights as the criminals who harmed them, and the support they and their families need during a stressful, scary legal process. In 2016, Georgians can vote to bring our state in line with more than 30 other states that already have enshrined the rights of victims in their most sacred legal documents. I’m sponsoring this legislation because I believe victims deserve – at the very least – rights equal to those who victimize them.

Already additional legislators have signed onto the bill, including the House Judiciary Committee chairman.