Huffington Post, "Universal Day of Human Rights -- Implementing Its Ideals"

Supporters of Marys's Law in California and victims' rights everywhere take note: December 10th was International Human Rights Day recognizing the United Nations' adoption 63 years ago of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The Declaration was established in the aftermath of World War II and, for the first time, delineated rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. The 30 articles contained in the Declaration have since been codified in laws and treaties worldwide. The rights proclaim that all are equal before the law, entitled to equal protection of the law, and have the right to effective remedies for violations of fundamental liberties. In 1976, the International Bill of Human Rights, which includes the Declaration and other documents, became international law. To mark this year's anniversary, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights hosted a global conversation on human rights. - HTN Foundation

Universal Day of Human Rights -- Implementing Its Ideals

Today I am going to take the liberty of using the precious space I have on this screen to introduce you to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because Saturday is the International Human Rights Day.

How many of us really know what the Declaration stands for? It was established in December of 1948, at the end of an eventful year during which Gandhi was assassinated while on a fast-unto-death protest in Delhi, Warner Brothers showed its first color reel, the pillars of NATO were set to restrain the Soviet Union, the Supreme Court ruled (in McCollum v. Board of Education) that religious instruction in Private Schools violates the US Constitution, Harry Truman signed the Marshal Plan, and the Arab-Israeli conflict escalated to the 1948 war that drove the Egyptians from the Negev and began the exodus of Jewish people from Arab lands into Israel.

It was a tumultuous year that came on the heels of a world war that pitted hemispheres against each other and placed ideologies at odds with one another. The winner would be measured by the burden of human bloodshed.

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ABC/KGO-TV, "Victim's rights groups get thousands from inmates"

Marsy's Law expands the rights of crime victims in California to restitution, adding to the impact of restitution laws already on the books. One law passed in 1990 requires inmates to turn over 20% of the money they earn at prison jobs to victims of crime. After paying the restitution, the remainder of their earnings goes to community organizations. This year, prisoners earning minimum wage assembling medical supplies at San Quentin State Prison collected $38,000 in restitution payments, which meant that seven victims' rights organizations each received checks of $4,500. - HTN Foundation

Victim's rights groups get thousands from inmates

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (KGO) -- Several victim's rights organizations received checks for thousands of dollars Monday straight from the paychecks of inmates.

he prisoners earn minimum wage assembling medical supplies at San Quentin State Prison. A law passed by voters in 1990 requires that 20 percent of their salaries be given to victims of crime. Once the inmate pays restitution, the excess goes to community organizations.

"It has to be used for direct services to crime victims, things such as emergency shelter, food, transportation," explained Chris Jacobs with the Prison Industry Authority.

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OC Register, "Her words brought a courtroom to tears"

AJ Egan's husband was killed in 2007 in a botched robbery at the Home Depot in Tustin where he was the manager. Nearly five years later, Egan says she found closure in delivering a victim-impact statement that the prosecutor called one of the most eloquent and articulate ever in Orange County. After hearing her speak, the judge agreed with jurors and sentenced Jason Richardson to death in the murder of Tom Egan. AJ Egan was exercising her right under Marsy's Law to speak during sentencing.  "That chapter of my life is finished and I hope to move forward into a new chapter," she said. - HTN Foundation

Her words brought a courtroom to tears

By LARRY WELBORN / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

AJ Egan, the widow of Thomas Egan, talks to the media after the sentencing of Jason Russell Richardson in Santa Ana on Nov. 28. Richardson was convicted of the special circumstances murder of Tustin Home Depot manager Thomas Egan. Richardson received the death penalty. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERAJ Egan worked on her victim-impact statement for years.

When she was done telling Superior Court Judge William Froeberg about the enormity of the impact her husband's murder in 2007 had on herself and her family, spectators were crying.

It was one of the most eloquent and articulate victim statements in an Orange County courtroom, Deputy District Attorney Cameron Talley said. To read her remarks, click here.

She was entitled to give her remarks under Marsy's Law, which guarantees victims and their families the right to speak during sentencings and at other appropriate times during the legal proceedings.

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Chicago Tribune, "Crime victims seek more say in judicial process"

Crime victims in Illinois, aggressively advocating for enforceable rights in the justice system, are proposing their own version of Marsy's Law, the Chicago Tribune reports. The newspaper says the Illinois Constitution provides 10 rights for crime victims--including that they be treated with respect, given notice of court hearings and be allowed to attend trials and present victim-impact statements--but do not include a mechanism for appeal. Now the Illinois Coalition for Enforceable Victims Rights and other advocates want to amend the state's constitution. According to the newspaper, they are joining "a national push to amend state constitutions and give teeth to statutes already on the books. - HTN Foundation

Crime victims seek more say in judicial process

By Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune reporter

November 7, 2011

Years after her 11-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted, Denise Rotheimer wants the right to sue the Lake County prosecutors who sent the offender to jail, saying they defamed her child by telling the judge that the girl "had issues."

In Cook County, Maria Ramirez believes prosecutors violated her rights by refusing to let her file a complaint after she was threatened by relatives of a juvenile charged with her son's 2006 murder.

Both women found that — after floundering through a complex criminal justice system that critics say is weighted toward ensuring the rights of the accused — their rights as crime victims were unenforceable.

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OC Register, "D.A. to seek death penalty in 2 cases"

Marsy’s Law advocates Jack and Genelle  Reilley will see the man accused of murdering their daughter in 1986 face the death penalty if convicted. Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas said he will seek a death sentence for Andrew Urdiales, who was recently extradited from Illinois where he is serving a life sentence for murdering three women there. The Reilleys asserted their Marsy’s Law rights to confer on extraditions. - HTN Foundation

D.A. to seek death penalty in 2 cases

By LARRY WELBORN and SEAN EMERY

SANTA ANA – Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced this week that his office will seek the death penalty against two accused killers, including a convicted triple murderer from Illinois who is now charged with killing five Southern California women during a crime spree between 1986 and 1995.

The trial for Andrew Urdiales, 47, who is charged with five felony counts of special circumstances murder for committing multiple murders, has been consolidated in Orange County even though four of his alleged victims were killed in Riverside and San Diego counties.

He is accused in Orange County of murdering Robbin Brandley, 23, on Jan. 18, 1986 by stabbing her 41 times in the back, neck, hands and chest when he accosted her as she left a jazz concert at Saddleback College. Urdiales allegedly drove to the Mission Viejo campus armed with a six-inch blade hunting knife looking for a random victim to murder, prosecutors said.

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