About Marsy's Law for South Dakota

In 2016, Marsy’s Law for South Dakota led the successful campaign to pass Amendment S, adding a Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights to the South Dakota Constitution. Supported by voters with a 60% to 40% margin, the amendment secured meaningful, enforceable constitutional protections for crime victims in South Dakota, ensuring they have an equal voice in the justice system.

Marsy’s Law is named after Marsalee “Marsy” Ann Nicholas, a beautiful, vibrant college student who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.  Only one week after her murder and on the way home from the funeral service, Marsy’s family stopped at a market to pick up a loaf of bread. It was there, in the checkout line, that Marsy’s mother, Marcella, was confronted by her daughter’s murderer.

Having received no notification from the judicial system, the family had no idea he had been released on bail mere days after Marsy’s murder.

In an effort to honor his sister, Dr. Henry Nicholas, co-founder of Broadcom Corporation, has made it his mission to give victims and their families constitutional protections and an equal voice in the justice system. He formed Marsy’s Law for All in 2009, providing expertise and resources to victims’ rights organizations nationwide.