Regarding Stephen Chapman’s column on the proposed federal victims’ rights amendment (Op-Ed, April 20):
Note, please, the coincidence that many of the same politicians supporting this amendment also howl about the “imperial” federal judiciary exerting too much power over state and local affairs.
Evidently, these politicians miss the connection. For if “victims’ rights” are to have any substance, they would ultimately need to be enforced by the federal courts. If a victim believed his or her constitutional rights were violated by a state criminal proceeding, he or she could file an action in federal court to enjoin the criminal proceeding. In effect, the amendment turns the levers and pulleys of the state criminal justice system over to federal courts. The law of unintended consequences strikes again!
