[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 40 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 40

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
                  protect the rights of crime victims.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 23, 2013

 Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself, Mr. Costa, Mr. Royce, Mr. Gosar, 
  Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Jones, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Meadows, Mr. 
   Nunnelee, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Bentivolio, Mr. Fleming, and Mr. Yoder) 
 introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
                  protect the rights of crime victims.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled   (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. The rights of a crime victim to fairness, respect, and 
dignity, being capable of protection without denying the constitutional 
rights of the accused, shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States or any State. The crime victim shall, moreover, have the rights 
to reasonable notice of, and shall not be excluded from, public 
proceedings relating to the offense, to be heard at any release, plea, 
sentencing, or other such proceeding involving any right established by 
this article, to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, to 
reasonable notice of the release or escape of the accused, to due 
consideration of the crime victim's safety and privacy, and to 
restitution. The crime victim or the crime victim's lawful 
representative has standing to fully assert and enforce these rights in 
any court. Nothing in this article provides grounds for a new trial or 
any claim for damages and no person accused of the conduct described in 
section 2 of this article may obtain any form of relief.
    ``Section 2. For purposes of this article, a crime victim includes 
any person against whom the criminal offense is committed or who is 
directly and proximately harmed by the commission of an act, which, if 
committed by a competent adult, would constitute a crime.
    ``Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it has been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the several States within 14 years after the date of 
its submission to the States by the Congress. This article shall take 
effect on the 180th day after the date of its ratification.''.
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