A proposal to amend the state Constitution to guarantee certain rights to crime victims and their families during criminal proceedings failed to clear a critical deadline Friday, and is dead for this session of the state Legislature.

The measure known as Marsy’s Law is based on the California Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008. The bill is named after Marsy Nicholas, a University of California, Santa Barbara, student who was stalked and murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.

Hawaii is among 18 states that do not have a constitutional provision that protects victims’ rights. Friday was the deadline to provide the final language of any proposed constitutional amendments to Gov. David Ige, and lawmakers failed to meet that deadline.

House Democratic Majority Leader Scott Saiki said a number of lawmakers in both the House and Senate were concerned the proposed new constitutional provision would have added to the burden on prosecutors and the courts, and that the scope of that extra burden “was not clearly identified.”

The proposed constitutional amendment would have established victims’ right to be heard during criminal proceedings; their right to be notified of proceedings and changes to the offenders’ custodial status; their right to be present at court proceedings; and their right to provide input in cases before plea agreements are finalized.

State Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said victims’ advocates turned out to support the bill, “and it’s disappointing that at this hour it didn’t survive.”

“I know many, many people are sad and disappointed,” he said. The bill was supported by state Attorney General Douglas Chin, Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and Kauai Prosecutor Justin Kollar as well as an array of community groups including Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii.

It was opposed by the Maui County prosecutor, the state Office of the Public Defender and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

Marci Lopes, executive director for the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said she understands some people don’t want to change the state Constitution because they feel the state should take the less drastic step of changing state laws to better protect victims’ rights. But Lopes said a constitutional amendment is needed because amending laws simply won’t provide enough protection for victims.

“I hear so many horrific stories and so much injustice, whatever excuse there is, it doesn’t satisfy me. It feels like an excuse,” she said. “So many victims have shared with me that they have not been notified of court hearings, they are not included in the process, they are re-victimized by the criminal justice system.”