Council hears comments on Marsy's Law from city judge

City Court Judge Virginia Siegel discussed Marsy’s Law at Monday night’s Havre City Council meeting, an item on the agenda initially meant to discuss the impact of the law on City Court and law enforcement before the Montana Supreme Court issued a stay of implementation Saturday.

Siegel said the city court had taken the steps needed to implement the law ahead of the July 1 deadline, before the court issued a stay while its constitutionality is reviewed.

Marsy’s Law, a ballot initiative intended to extend rights in criminal proceedings to victims, passed with 67 percent of the vote in Montana last November. However, Siegel said, if voters knew how much its implementation would cost they might have voted differently.

The halt in implementation came after a joint petition was filed with the Montana Supreme Court challenging the process by which the initiative became law. Siegel said the petition asserts the law would affect broader constitutional changes and thus would require a separate vote on each change.

Siegel added that the petition also says the burdensome cost to taxpayers to implement the law was not disclosed to voters. It would also diminish the presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial; expand the definition of victim in an unrealistic way; define victim in a way to include nonhuman entities such as corporations and businesses, she said.

The petition also argues the provision of the right to know for victims in Marsy’s Law would conflict with the constitutional rights to privacy, bail and to prepare a defense, she said, adding that it would also undermine the rehabilitative process.

Siegel said she agrees with the stay issued by the court.

“I read through the petition thoroughly and I believe that, ultimately, (Marsy’s Law) is not in the best interest of the people of Montana,” she  said.

Seigel also talked about City Court’s budget for the coming year.

Mayor Tim Solomon said that since the city had been keeping tabs on the latest developments related to Marsy’s law, he did not know why she was bringing it up now that its implementation was halted.

“I guess, my question is, as far as bringing this up, if you are leading up to how this affects your court, because you still haven’t responded to the previous budget response that is needed  from you,” he said.

He added that because Siegel has not turned in a budget request by the due date that the court’s budget would be the same as last year.

Siegel said Havre City Clerk Finance Director Doug Kaercher indicated that not submitting a budget request meant there would be no change in funding for the court. She said that she would not be asking for a budget increase.

Siegel said she does hope to bring back a court clerk to help staff the court’s front desk. Right now, the court and the city share an employee, Sarah Sieglock, to answer phones, collect payments and  other duties. She said she hopes to bring Tyson Liebowitz back Thursdays starting July 13 so the front desk can have more staffing.

Solomon said he thinks he and Siegel should sit down to further discuss the staffing issue.