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Press Release: Missouri Voters Set to Decide Fate of Constitutional Amendment 2

NEWS From the Office of

Representative John McCaherty

 

97th District

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Oct. 16, 2014

 

 

CONTACT:  Rep. John McCaherty

                                    573-751-3751

 

     

Missouri Voters Set to Decide Fate of Constitutional Amendment 2

State Rep. John McCaherty calls the proposed change an important protection for child victims of sexual abuse

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As Missouri voters head to the polls on Nov. 4 they will have the opportunity to provide a new layer of protection for child victims of sexual abuse. Constitutional Amendment 2 would allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of past wrongdoing by an alleged sex offender in cases of child sexual abuse. The allowance of this “propensity evidence” would make the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases much less difficult according to supporters of Amendment 2.

 

State Rep. John McCaherty, who sponsored HJR 16 that put the proposed constitutional change on the ballot, said it is time for Missouri to make this change that would give prosecutors a powerful tool to put sex offenders behind bars. McCaherty noted that Missouri is currently one of the most restrictive states in the nation in regard to prohibiting such evidence.

 

“We simply have to do more as a state to protect our young people from those who would commit these heinous crimes. Other states have made this important step forward and it is time for Missouri to follow suit by passing Amendment 2,” said McCaherty, R-Murphy.

 

Amendment 2 would, upon voter approval, allow relevant evidence of prior criminal acts, whether charged or uncharged, to be admissible in the prosecution for a crime of a sexual nature involving a victim under 18 years of age for the purpose of corroborating the victim’s testimony or demonstrating the defendant’s propensity to commit the crime. The constitutional change also would make it clear that the judge would have the final decision on whether to allow the evidence.

 

McCaherty said the change would bring Missouri law in line with the standard for child sexual abuse cases used by the federal government and many other states. He noted that Missouri stopped allowing propensity evidence after a ruling made by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2007 in State v. Ellison. The court’s ruling said the state law that allowed the admission of propensity evidence violated the Missouri Constitution.

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