With Marsy’s Law for Georgia now under consideration by a House committee, Georgia supporters are bringing attention to the issue and contacting committee members while more influential Georgia voices are getting behind the measure.

More than 1,100 Georgians have signed the petition demanding that crime victims get constitutional rights – rights equal to those given to the perpetrators who victimized them – and more than 600 are now following our efforts on social media. Through these platforms, we’re hearing directly from victims and their families about their own tragic stories. We’ve heard from a mother whose daughter was raped by her father who lives in mortal fear that he’ll one day be released. We’ve heard from a mother whose child died in a wreck caused by a drunk driver, who was given no prison time and the victim’s family was never notified of that decision. We’re now in the process of telling these stories to other Georgians. The more they know, the more likely they are to support this effort.

And word is spreading. Just this week, Marsy’s Law for Georgia won the endorsement of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The west Georgia newspaper said Marsy’s Law is just “common sense.”

Some crime victims’ rights are already specified in Georgia law since 2010. But as Brian Robinson, former communications director for Gov. Nathan Deal, explained, this legislation would elevate those rights to constitutional protections such as those already accorded to criminal suspects and defendants: “A constitutional right always trumps a statutory right or protection.”

Fludd, co-sponsor of the legislation and Democratic caucus chairman in the House, noted that 30 states have already enacted constitutional rights for crime victims: “I believe victims deserve — at the very least — rights equal to those who victimize them.”

That surely speaks for the vast majority of us.

Please read more here.