Russ Feingold: “I rise to oppose S.J. Res. 3, the victims' rights constitutional amendment. I agree with the goals of the proponents of…”

“I rise to oppose S.J. Res. 3, the victims' rights constitutional amendment. I agree with the goals of the proponents of the amendment. We have to do more to protect and enhance the rights of victims of crime. But I disagree with the particular means they have chosen to bring about that end. We do not need to amend the Constitution to protect victims. We can protect the rights of victims by enforcing current State and Federal laws. We can protect the rights of victims by providing the needed resources to prosecutors and courts to allow them to enforce and comply with existing laws. We can protect the rights of victims by enacting additional statutes, if needed, to deal with remaining concerns or any issues that might arise in this regard in the future. The framers of the Constitution made the process of amending the Constitution very difficult. Those who propose to change that long-lived and successful charter bear a heavy burden. I have thus opposed proposals to amend the Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights, even when the subject of the amendment was very close to my heart, as it was with the recent proposal to amend the Constitution to allow for mandatory campaign spending limits. Similarly, I believe deeply in the need to ensure that our criminal justice system treats victims fairly, but I do not believe we have to amend the Constitution to do so.”