Officials Warn Of "Disturbing" Robo Calls Targeting Victim's Bill of Rights

Editor’s note: this story has been updated

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Canton, GA -- The Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office is sounding the alarm of a misleading robo call regarding a piece of legislation under consideration at the Gold Dome.

On Friday, Feb. 19, citizens began contacting the office of District Attorney Shannon Wallace and said they received “disturbing messages on their answering machines alleging that county officials do not support victims’ rights and that citizens supporting victims should immediately support a bill entitled Marcy’s Law, or Georgia House Resolution 1199,” the DA’s office said in a press release.

“The information given in these calls, as related to me by citizens, is patently false,” Wallace said. “This proposed resolution to amend to our Georgia Constitution is currently in committee in the Georgia legislature. Any recorded call or individual indicating that victims do not have protected rights in Georgia or in Cherokee County is simply not stating the truth.”

The calls in question are critical of the Georgia Victim’s Bill of Rights, added State Rep. Mandi Ballinger of Canton.

Enacted in 1995, Georgia’s Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights guarantees victims of certain crimes specific rights, including the right to restitution and notice of all scheduled court proceedings.

“These calls make very inaccurate claims that elected officials are not adhering to the Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights, which could not be further from the truth,” Ballinger said. “As a former victims’ rights advocate in the District Attorney’s Office, I can tell you that Georgia has one of the strongest victims’ rights statues in the country. To say that our elected officials do not care about the rights of these victims is not only untrue, it is an injustice to the law that Georgia has in place.”

Wallace went onto say the District Attorney’s office has six highly trained victims advocates, and the office works to provide services to victims at the earliest stages of their cases.

“In so many cases, we are the sole voice for victims, and that is a profound privilege,” she added. “This false and misleading attack on our County is disheartening. I became a prosecutor to help protect the public and speak for victims. The allegations of this call, as relayed to me by citizens, could not be further from the truth. While I have sympathy for victims in other parts of the country that may not have the broad protections for victims that we enjoy and uphold in Georgia, I cannot let this false information stand. It simply isn’t right.”

For more information about the rights of crime victims in Georgia, please contact Victim Witness Coordinator Lisa Williams at (770) 479-1488 or lwilliams@cherokeega.com.

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UPDATE: Brian Robinson, spokesperson for those lobbying for Marsy’s Law, has provided the full transcript of the robo call residents have received:

Hello, my name is Stephanie calling on behalf of Marsy’s Law about an urgent bill in the state house.

Georgia is one of just 18 states in which criminals have constitutional rights - but their victims do not. House Resolution 1199, called Marsy’s law, will fix that and give voters the opportunity to give victims of crime equal rights under the constitution. We can all agree that no rapist should have more rights than the victim and no murderer should be afforded more rights than the victim’s family.

The legislature is holding key votes on this legislation in the coming days. Crime victims, advocates, educators, volunteers and law enforcement all support equal rights for crime victims - but your District Attorney has not yet taken a public position.

If you support equal rights for crime victims, please press 1 now to be transferred to your District Attorney’s office to ask if HE/SHE supports equal rights for crime victims - and urge HIM/HER to ask their legislator to support Marsy’s Law.

Again, your District Attorney has not yet taken a public position on equal rights for crime victims. Please press 1 now to ask your District Attorney whether they will stand with crime victims and support Marsy’s Law.

Thank you, this call was paid for by Mars’ys Law for Georgia. Call Back Number 678-653-5055.

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