Dianne Feinstein: “One of the unfortunate aspects of the debate in these hallowed Halls is the fact that many have chosen to ignore the…”

“One of the unfortunate aspects of the debate in these hallowed Halls is the fact that many have chosen to ignore the fact that this amendment would actually help poor minority communities beset by crime. It would give victims in these communities rights our criminal justice system often deny them through bureaucratic neglect and casual racism. Among the many supporters of the amendment, for example, is a group called Racial Minorities for Victim Justice. This group includes Norm Early, the former district attorney of Denver, CO, and the founding president of the National Black Prosecutors' Association. It includes Joseph Myers, executive director of the National Indian Justice Center; David Osborne, an Asian American who is assistant secretary of the State in California; Azim Khamisa; Christine Lopez; Steven Njemanze. The group includes minority victims such as Teresa Baker, whose rights were denied after her son was coldbloodedly murdered in Maryland; Clementine Garfield, whose two teenage sons were shot in Detroit; Sarah Fletcher, whose husband Reginald, son Ricky, daughter Crystal, and unborn granddaughter were all murdered. They wrote me an eight-page letter laying out their thoughts about the amendment.”