The right tool for the job
Victims' Rights Victory
Tuesday, April 27, 2004; Page A20
OPPONENTS OF rash efforts to amend the Constitution scored an important win last week, when Senate backers of a "victims' rights" amendment pulled their proposal and agreed to pass a statute instead. The amendment -- which would have given an undefined class of victims constitutional rights in criminal trials on a par with those the Bill of Rights grants to defendants -- was headed for a much-deserved defeat. So sponsors Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) decided to throw their weight behind a bill instead, an alternative long supported by amendment foe Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). The result was compromise legislation that passed the Senate Thursday with only a single negative vote.
A constitutional amendment on this subject was never necessary -- unless, that is, the goal was to diminish protections for the accused in criminal trials. Congress can provide for victims anything that doesn't infringe upon defendants' trial rights, using its normal legislative powers.
