No One to Blame But Ourselves: Jessica’s Law is a California Voter Approved Disaster
January 14, 2009 by Johnny California
Filed under Ballot Proposition Reform, Ballot Propositions
Back in 2006, Californians voted in “Jessica’s Law” (Prop 83) by a 70% majority. Jessica’s Law prohibits registered sex offenders from living 2,000 feet from schools, churches, parks, playgrounds and other places frequented by kids. Under the law, cities and counties are allowed to pass additional restrictions.
So two years into Jessica’s law, how is it working out? The LA Times reports:
A state panel is urging the governor and legislators to change “Jessica’s Law,” saying its restrictions on where sex offenders can live are counterproductive and calling the nearly $25 million a year spent to house them a poor use of taxpayers’ money.
The residency restrictions, passed by voters more than two years ago in Proposition 83, have never been shown to prevent new crimes and may reduce public safety, the panel says…
…Barring sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and other areas where children gather has driven many into homelessness, an unstable situation that can propel them back to crime, according to the [Sex Offender Management] Board…
…”It seems unwise to spend such resources as a consequence of residence restriction policies which have no track record of increasing community safety,” board members wrote.
This should come as a surprise to nobody. Why? Because in the runup to the 2006 election, we were warned that this was going to happen.
Here’s one example of reports that ran before the ’06 election. From the October 30, 2006 L.A. Times:
As Californians prepare to vote next week on Proposition 83, which would impose a similar residency ban, Iowa is becoming an example of the unintended consequences of such measures.
Prosecutors, police officials and even victims rights groups say the crackdown has backfired, driving some offenders into rural towns and leaving others grouped at motels, campgrounds, freeway rest stops or on the streets.
Many have simply gone underground, authorities say, with more than twice as many registered sex offenders now considered missing than before the law took effect…
“These guys are off the radar scope, and we’ve got no idea where they are,” said Bill Vaughn, chief deputy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Department in Des Moines.
All around the Hawkeye State, police and sheriff’s deputies say they are overwhelmed by the task of chasing down child molesters who violate the residency law. And although they don’t often pity sex felons, authorities say the house-hunting challenge faced by the ex-cons is almost insurmountable.
“When they call and ask where they can legally live, my response is, ‘Do you know anybody in Nebraska?’ ” said Des Moines Police Sgt. Barry Arnold. “It’s a nightmare.”
Iowa prosecutors agree. Their statewide association earlier this year declared the law a failure and asked the Legislature to pursue a different strategy to protect children from sex crimes.
The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, representing victims, echoed that request. Executive Director Elizabeth Barnhill said Iowans are less safe now because sex offenders, facing banishment, are absconding in large numbers.
That’s right. The Iowa Prosecutors Association AND the Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a group which represents sexual assault victims were AGAINST Prop 83. The Iowa Prosecutors even warned Californians about the perils of Jessica’s Law before the ’06 election. These warnings were in all the voting materials and on the actual ’06 ballot.
A year after the law was enacted, city governments started to complain about enforcement problems. State Senator and Jessica’s Law author George Runner (R-Lancaster) put a statement up on his website dismissing the law’s critics. Here’s our favorite part:
Distancing sex offenders 2,000 feet from schools, parks and other places where children gather is another contemporary idea, and one that California voters have embraced. Parents simply don’t want sex offenders living across the street from schools and parks. Again, a few cities have cried foul, claiming that it is nearly impossible to find housing with the distancing restriction and thus homelessness among sex offenders is sure to occur in abundance. But so far, the claims have been based on guesswork, not actual incidents of homelessness.
And even now, after Jessica’s Law has been discredited by everyone, Runner is still clinging to his twisted dream. The LA Times reports:
Responding to the criticism that residency restrictions have no benefit to public safety, state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), an author of the initiative, said, “I do believe the general public would say a child molester should not live across the street from a school.”
Of course the general public would say that. But if the general public later found out that it was safer to have a convicted child molester living across the street from a school in plain sight rather than camped out in the woods where no one can find him, one would hope that the general public would change their mind.
Or maybe not. Before the 2006 election, voters also ignored this map which showed that registered sex offenders would be relegated to living in remote, hard-to-track areas (the Iowa problem) or the deserts and mountains (which are uninhabitable). Actually, they probably did see this map and liked what they saw — this is precisely why things like Jessica’s Law should never be put to a popular vote.
Gov. Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Jessica’s Law saw this coming. Earlier this week, before the LA Times story hit, his office issued this press release announcing that pursuant to another provision of Jessica’s Law, all 6,622 paroled sex offenders now wear an GPS ankle bracelet.
What the press release didn’t mention is that the GPS only applies to those 6,622 parolee, not the 80,000 registered sex offenders who have completed parole. The GPS is removed after parole is over, but the residency requirement lasts forever.
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com
First, let me get this out. I am totally against ANY form of abuse to any human being. And I believe anyone who murders another human being should be in prison for the rest of their life (until they die). I do not believe in the death penalty for anyone. Also, I believe that once a person has been in and out of prison and has served their probation and parole, done everything required of them, and what was signed on the “contract” when they took the plea, none of this should be required of them, none of it. The state cannot tear up a contract like this, which they are basically doing, it’s unconstitutional. Many people, if they had known they would be faced with all this, they would have NOT taken a plea deal. And the courts are very aware of this and this is why they made it retroactive; thus violating ex-post facto laws! They should be allowed to get on with their life as if nothing happened. I’m not saying for it to be removed from their record, but, the crime should be removed from public view and background checks, they should not have any more restrictions, shaming, etc. If they commit another crime, then they face a lot more punishment, like everything else is treated.
When are we going to move away from being “TOUGH ON CRIME” and move to being “SMART ON CRIME?” If you locked every single s*x offender up, at this moment, or killed every one of them, do you think the problem is over? No, more will follow.
I’ve heard many people say “If these laws protect one child, then they are worth it!” And at the same time, if millions are tortured, it’s ok. Offenders are losing their homes, jobs, families, and children and cannot find new jobs or homes due to the insanity of these laws. The families are also made into outcasts for associating with or being related to an ex-offender and their own children are harassed and bullied at schools due to a family member being an ex-offender.
I know these laws are a sensitive issue, but as all issues, they must be discussed and we must come up with a valid solution that will work. The laws, as they exist now, DO NOT WORK! People are always saying they cause unintended consequences. These laws have been on the books for years now, so nothing is unintended anymore. When are we going to set aside fear, hate, rage and anger and come up with a real solution? History has proven that these feelings NEVER get good laws passed but only create bad ones that punish and torture many people. These knee-jerk reactions to a slim number of high-profile crimes, like Adam Walsh and Jessica Lunsford, MUST STOP!
When an ex-offender is forced to move from his/her home, thus having to sell it, cannot find another home within the law due to the residency “buffer” zones, get fired from their jobs due to being on the registry, cannot find a new job due to being on the registry, their husband/wife lose their jobs due to a significant other being on the registry, their children lose their friends and are harassed and bullied in school due to a family member being on the registry, thus destroying the children’s lives, ex-offenders are forced into homelessness and to live under bridges, harassed by police, neighbors and probation/parole officers, have to wear “I’m a s*x offender T-shirt” or have a neon green license plate on ALL their cars, have “s*x offender” on their drivers license and forced to renew their licenses every year, forced from shelters during tornadoes or hurricanes, cannot give blood at some places due to being discriminated against for being on the s*x offender registry, denied housing due to being on the registry, signs placed in their yards inviting harassment and ridicule from the neighbors, forced to move when the neighbors start picketing outside the ex-offenders home, the list is endless.
I THINK THIS IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, BEYOND THE EXTREME!
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I seriously am getting burned out on this issue. Let’s face facts, politicians use this issue every time they feel like their losing out. It’s the old stand bye for them. Use fear and hysteria to stir up the people and then when their frothy enough, show them how tough they are on these vile evil people and abracadabra, their voted in again or they get what they want just like magic. You would think with all the empirical studies out their showing the low recidivism rates of the criminal class, the people would wise up that they are being suckered into putting a worthless politician into office that doesn’t do anything except spend their hard earned tax dollars on projects that clearly don’t work! There are three things a politician will say just before they lie to you:
1. It’s for the safety of the country.
2. It’s to better the American economy.
3. If it saves just one child.
Don’t keep getting suckered by these idiots. The more they take, the less you say, and the more of their BS you buy into, the more freedoms you give up, and the less safe you really become. Good ideas, smart legislation, equal better government and a better quality of life.
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I want people, especially children to be safer because of the laws we pass. These laws are not doing that.
You’ve got it right, Johnny California. Residency restrictions have the potential for making us all less safe. We need to assist with reentry for all those who are getting out of prison, for if we dehumanize someone, the chances are pretty good that they will become inhumane. This sort of treatment of sex offenders only increases the chance that they will commit another offense.
Why not treat sex offenders as though we want them to succeed, instead of treating them as though we want them to commit another offense? It is far safer to have a sex offender employed (where he can be supervised) and housed (so law enforcement will know where they are) than to have them relegated to the streets or the woods, where no one can find them.
As Formerly known as says, let us have good ideas and smart legislation. It just makes sense.
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Let me get this straight, we don’t want sex offenders living around us, and we don’t want them living around each other, and we don’t have the BALLS to execute them for the many crimes we register. How about a little honesty this is a religious bent of “you don’t fit our morals.”
There has NEVER been a case of registered offender Halloween attack and only one case of sexual linked attack but he WAS NOT on the registry.
If you need a sound bite for political purposes keep it up. If you want to make a difference do something that actually makes a difference. I am in a cause and effect field. We don’t make decisions on feelings but facts.
Either step up or step off jack.
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I was 22, she was 16
she said she was 18.
even said she was out of high school. had a job etc etc.
the courts didnt care
i had to register.
i got house arrest.
i violated house arrest.
got parole for the violation of house arrest.
261.5c not a mandatory registration charge for unlawful sex with a minor under the age of 18
i was lucky, i had the skills to get a job and a apartment outside the 2000 foot rule.
i wear a gps monitor for 3 years till im off parole.
i dont show up on the registry because my offense is not a mandatory registration charge. so no one really knows what im dealing with
id love to buy a house. i cant because in my city. its 98% within the 2000 foot zone
im not even clear yet if after parole if the 2000 foot rule still applys
my parole officer says it does not
what i read on the internet says it does.
this GPS monitor i have is a joke.
it wont tell my po what im doing, just where i am
i own a car. it doesnt take long to drive to a park.
but why does this apply to me?
im low risk, i dont think kids are hot or anything. im now married with 2 kids.
i just laugh at the people who think these laws do anything.
while you punish us and make us mad. who knows what that will drive us to do
i know with me i just want to forget and get over it. and never repeat
but now im reminded of it every day
but we still laugh at the fact jessica’s law is a joke.
all it does it punish us
your not any safer!
you may feel that you are
but your not
all jessicas law does it punish sex offenders. thats it.
nothing more nothing less.
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Mike there is right…these laws make our lives a living hell; restrictions on where we live, where we can go, what activities we can be involved in, at least during probation/parole. Even a messed up offender with a GPS and 3 years of prison time under his belt can go to a school and grab a child, or sit in a parking lot and masterbate. Hell, anyone who’s a human being has the potential to do terrible things…anyone can murder someone, anyone can hurt another…sex offenders are no different than anyone else, but yet we are labeled as something worse, almost sub-human. These laws politicians pass seem well intended, but are rarely thought out. I committed a crime with no real victim, they didn’t exist, yet here I am unable to get anyone to hire me, unable to find a home that fits all their conditions, unable to finish college due to dealing with so much legal junk, and having to deal with the “general public, worried they will view me as less than deserving of living. Everyday is a struggle with depression, self confidence, and self worth…but hey, at least the kids are safe right?
I’m a 22 yr old college student. I’m someone’s son. I’m someone’s mentor. I’m someone’s friend. But in this country I’m seen as a monster.
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i agree totally that this law is pointless, they really need to re look at it and change alot of it, one i strongly believe that they should not make it back track and that if parole is gonna place the gps on theese people then who cares where they live they r tracked. also they should only apply it to the high risk ones that get out of prison for doing a sex crime and if u dont qualify for megans law then u shouldnt for jessicas law.
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