Proposition 8 (or The Victims' Bill of Rights
[), a law enacted by ]California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
voters on 8 June 1982 by the initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...
process, restricted the rights of convicts and those suspected of crimes and extended the rights of victims. To do so, it amended the California Constitution and ordinary statutes.
Provisions
The Victims' Bill of Rights declared its purpose as to ensure that:
Amendment of the constitution
The Victim's Bill of Rights added Section 28 to Article 1 of the constitution. This section has since been substantially added to and amended by Marsy's Law
Marsy's Law, the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election, is a controversial amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal ...
, enacted in 2008. Section 28 granted victims of crime the right to restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...
from the perpetrator unless there were "compelling and extraordinary reasons" to the contrary. It also conferred a right to school safety; it reads "All students and staff of public primary, elementary, junior high and senior high schools have the inalienable right to attend campuses which are safe, secure and peaceful".
Section 28 introduced a "right to truth in evidence". This means that state courts cannot exclude any "relevant evidence" even if gathered in a manner that violates the rights of the accused. The U.S. Constitution takes priority over the California constitution so courts may still be obliged to exclude evidence under the federal Bill of Rights. In practice the law prevented the California courts from interpreting the state constitution so as to impose an exclusionary rule more strict than that required by the federal constitution.[P. 165, ''Constitutional Politics in the States: Contemporary Controversies and Historical Patterns'', G. Alan Tarr, 1996.] Exceptions may be made to the "truth in evidence" rule by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the California Legislature
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...
.
Section 28 provided that public safety should be the primary consideration in determining whether to grant bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
. The Victims' Bill of Rights proposed to repeal Article 1, Section 12, which contained the existing constitutional provisions on bail, but this conflicted with another proposition enacted on the same day. The other proposition received a higher number of votes and so, under the California constitution, it took precedence.
Statutory changes
The Victims' Bill of Rights made various changes to the California Penal Code and the Welfare and Institutions Code
The California Codes are 29 legal codes enacted by the California State Legislature, which together form the general statutory law of California. The official Codes are maintained by the California Office of Legislative Counsel for the Legislature. ...
. Victims of crime were granted the right to be notified of, to attend, and to state their views at sentencing and parole hearings. Other provisions related to the defense of insanity
The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the ...
and diminished capacity
In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental funct ...
, harsher punishments for recidivists and the limitation of plea bargaining.
References
{{reflist
8
1982
Initiatives in the United States
U.S. state criminal legislation
United States evidence law