Compared to other issues on next week’s ballot, the Illinois Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights Amendment hasn’t gotten much coverage. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t have the immediate effects that, say, changes to voting rights might have.

Or maybe it’s because the amendment seems almost too obviously beneficial measure that it’s more or less eluded real public scrutiny.

Either way, it’s worth a “yes” vote.

Also known as “Marsy’s Law,” the ballot’s language appears as follows: “The proposed amendment would expand certain rights already granted to crime victims in Illinois, and give crime victims the ability to enforce their rights in a court of law.”

Those rights include the right to be free from harassment, intimidation and abuse through the criminal trial process, the right to be heard as any post-arraignment proceedings, and the right to notice and hearing before court rulings on access to victim records, among other things.

The push for stricter and more expansive victims rights has been at the forefront of a nationwide push to afford victims dignity and closure that started in California, where the mother of murder victim Marsy Nicholas was confronted by Marsy’s accused killer while shopping for groceries. The family was unaware before that time he had been released on bail, prompting outcry from the local community over the rights of victims to be aware of court proceedings.

There’s a reason groups like the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence are so aggressively advocating the amendment’s passage: it’s common sense legislation.

The coalition, which works on behalf of 53 domestic violence crisis centers around the center, has been working for over six years to try and change the law’s language, often lobbying Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to convene with abuse victims and learn how the state can offer further protections, and for good reason.

Passing the Illinois House by 111-2 vote, and passing the Illinois Senate unanimously, this amendment would be a great step in ensuring that victims of all crimes are provided the protections and comforts necessary to endure court already exhausting and emotional court proceedings to find justice.

The passage of Marsy’s Law, both in Illinois and across the nation, would be a great step in not only alleviating the emotional trauma often felt by victims, but would also strengthen the way in which court proceedings are made visible to the public.