Utah Proposition 1, Crime Victim's Rights Amendment (1994)

Utah Proposition 1
Election date November 8, 1994
Topic Crime victims' rights
Status Approved
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Utah Proposition 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Utah on November 8, 1994. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to make changes to the criminal court system as follows:  allow reliable hearsay statements in preliminary hearings; specify that a victim of a crime has the right to be informed of, be heard at, and be present at any important hearings related to them once the accused has been publicly charged; specify that a victim of a crime has the right to be treated with fairness, respect and dignity; and specify that a victim of a crime has the right to have a sentencing judge hear reliable information on the background and character of a person convicted of a crime (not including capital cases).

A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to make changes to the criminal court system.

Election results

Utah Proposition 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		334,566	69.27%
No		148,441	30.73%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition 1 was as follows:

“

Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to:  declare that victims of crimes have specified rights as defined and enforced by statute while not creating a cause of action for money damages, costs, or attorney fees, or dismissal of any criminal charge, or releif from any criminal judgement under these provisions;  limit the scope of the preliminary examination to determine probable cause unless otherwise provided by statute; and  allow the use of reliable hearsay evidence to determine probable cause at certain pretrial proceedings?

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Utah Constitution

A two-thirds majority vote in both the legislative chambers vote is required during one legislative session for the Utah State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Utah House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Utah State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

See also

1994 Measures

• 1994 Measures
• Crime victims' rights on the ballot
• 1994 legislative sessions

Utah

• Utah ballot measures
• Utah ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Utah Voter Guide (1994)