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3 <br /> <br />Commissioner Rich said they hope to get a report back from the Hwy 54 meeting on 1 <br />Monday. 2 <br /> 3 <br />4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 4 <br /> 5 <br />a. Resolution To Oppose Marsy’s Law Constitutional Amendment 6 <br />The Board considered approving a resolution opposing Marsy’s Law Constitutional 7 <br />Amendment, and authorizing the Chair to sign. 8 <br /> 9 <br />BACKGROUND: 10 <br />On March 20, 2018 the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution in 11 <br />support of Marsy’s Law. This proposal is now on the November 2018 ballot as a constitutional 12 <br />amendment, and is part of a broader campaign to amend the North Carolina Constitution. 13 <br />The attached draft resolution provides the opportunity to rescind the resolution adopted on 14 <br />March 20, 2018, as well as formally express opposition to the Marsy’s Law / Crime Victims’ 15 <br />Amendment constitutional referendum. 16 <br /> 17 <br />Commissioner Rich read the resolution: 18 <br /> 19 <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 20 <br />RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE MARSY’S LAW CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 21 <br /> 22 <br />WHEREAS, in March 2018 the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution in 23 <br />support of Marsy’s Law, which is now on the November 2018 ballot as a constitutional 24 <br />amendment; and 25 <br /> 26 <br />WHEREAS, since that time, this amendment has become part of a broader campaign to amend 27 <br />the North Carolina Constitution to fundamentally undermine the separation of powers and core 28 <br />democratic principles; and 29 <br /> 30 <br />WHEREAS, while we are committed to supporting victims and their families and believe they 31 <br />deserve dignity and respect, further analysis of this amendment reveals that it will violate due 32 <br />process rights, unnecessarily restrict and delay criminal proceedings, undercut diversion 33 <br />programs and other efforts to reduce incarceration rates in our community, and significantly 34 <br />increase costs for our criminal justice system; and 35 <br /> 36 <br />WHEREAS, North Carolina already has statutory and constitutional protections for crime 37 <br />victims, and that those victims would be better served by increased State resources for existing 38 <br />victims’ support programs, domestic violence shelters, and effective diversion, counseling, and 39 <br />re-entry programs, rather that this unnecessary and misleading amendment; 40 <br /> 41 <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of Commissioners doe 42 <br />hereby rescind the resolution adopted on March 20, 2018; and 43 <br /> 44 <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners is opposed to 45 <br />the Marsy’s Law / Crime Victims’ Amendment constitutional referendum, and encourages all 46 <br />residents of Orange County North Carolina to also oppose this misguided and harmful 47 <br />amendment. 48 <br /> 49 <br />This the 1st day of November, 2018. 50