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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 10, 2024 02:51 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Jarrett Coleman |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Amending the Crime Victims Act for Next of Kin Notification |
| Imagine finding out on the evening news that your child was murdered. In Pennsylvania, that is a real possibility and it happened to one of my constituents. To spare other families this heartache, I will be introducing legislation that amends the Crime Victims Act. This will be a reintroduction of SB 893 from last session. The legislation will require law enforcement to make reasonable efforts to ensure the victim's next-of-kin has been notified of the death before publicly releasing the murder victim's identity. Communication with the public where law enforcement is attempting to identify the victim will be permitted. Medical personnel will be prohibited from releasing the victim's identity within 24-hours from when the next-of-kin was notified of the death by either medical personnel or law enforcement. The victims’ families need time to process their loss and deserve the opportunity to notify loved ones in the case of such a tragic event. My legislation will strike a balance between public interest and privacy. Previous sponsors were: Gebhard, Laughlin, Rothman, Costa, Brewster, Brown, and Schwank . I hope that you will join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |