Making sure they got it right

Too often, when politicians pass laws, their work is done. But sometimes we learn that the new laws don’t always work as planned, or have unintended consequences. That is why it is gratifying to see that those concerned with a new law ensuring victim’s rights is working as hoped. They spent the entire day yesterday in La Crosse County examining how Marsy’s Law is working. Marsy’s Law passed the Wisconsin Legislature three years ago, designed to make sure crime victims are kept aware of the court proceedings in their case. Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin partnered with the La Crosse District Attorney’s office with the goal of possibly tweaking the law to ensure it works as designed. Representatives of the criminal justice system and victim’s rights organizations convened in La Crosse for a day-long exercise to map the journey of crime victims, from the first call for help all the way to post-conviction proceedings, in an effort to provide future reforms for the law. Groups involved in the La Crosse effort included the sheriff’s office, La Crosse police as well as representatives from the court system, the Department of Corrections, and victim’s rights groups like New Horizons. It is good those involved are spending time ensuring the law works as intended, because sometimes even after a law passes, our lawmakers work isn’t done.