MADISON – Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin today announced the launch of a robust statewide television and digital advertising campaign ahead of the April 7 vote on the proposed crime victims’ constitutional amendment. The campaign will expand on the coalition’s extensive grassroots outreach efforts aimed at educating Wisconsin voters about the proposed amendment and urging public support ahead of the April vote.
Introduced for second consideration as Assembly Joint Resolution 1/Senate Joint Resolution 2 the bipartisan victims’ rights legislation was approved in 2019 for placement on the April 2020 ballot after passing the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support in two consecutive legislative sessions. The upcoming April 7 vote marks the final step in the approval process for the proposed constitutional amendment.
The initial advertising effort includes two thirty-second ads that launched today in media markets throughout the state, urging viewers to support the crime victims’ constitutional amendment commonly known as Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin. The first ad features Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin State Chair Teri Jendusa Nicolai, who became a prominent victims’ rights advocate after surviving a brutal attack by her ex-husband. “He beat me with a bat…. dumped me in a garbage can…. left me to die in a freezing cold storage locker. When I was rescued, I thought my ordeal was over, but I was wrong,” Teri says in the ad. “The legal system sometimes made me feel like a victim all over again…like my voice didn’t matter. Marsy’s Law gives crime victims equal rights…ensuring their voices are always heard.”
The second ad features violent crime survivor Christina Traub, who has been an outspoken proponent of Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin since the campaign’s statewide launch in 2017. “I was thrown down and his hands were around my neck choking me. I escaped with my life… only to be left in the dark by the justice system…” Christina explains in the ad. “Marsy’s Law will give victims a voice and guarantee we have equal rights.”
Today’s launch marks the first in a robust campaign aimed at educating voters and urging a yes vote on the proposed amendment. Teri’s and Christina’s stories will also be used in digital ads running around Wisconsin. Variations of digital ads will feature an array of supporters of Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin ranging from a bipartisan group of legislators and law enforcement members to crime victims and advocates.
