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Sex-offender issues often go to voters
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.
<snipped>
The effort to pass “Chelsea’s Law” to restrain sex offenders has so far been the purview of lawmakers, but it could wind up ultimately decided by voters. That has been the pattern with some strict public-safety proposals by Republicans that the Democratic-controlled Legislature has been reluctant to pass.
“The legislative leaders put extreme liberals on the committee to make sure they kill this type of good public policy before it even gets to the floor,” said Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, who represents a swath of northern San Diego County.
At times, frustrated Republicans have gathered signatures to force ballot measures such as Jessica’s Law, which targeted sex offenders by increasing penalties, restricting their movements and barring them from living near schools and parks. The 2006 initiative grew out of several measures that failed in the Legislature, and it passed with more than 70 percent of the vote.
Voters adopted another initiative two years later by 53.8 percent, designed to extend broad new rights to victims and keep offenders in prison for much longer. It is known as Marsy’s Law after Marsy Nicholas, who was killed by an ex-boyfriend in 1983. “Almost every one of these, whether it’s Jessica’s Law or Marsy’s Law, were on the ballot because we can’t get them out of the Legislature,” Wyland said.
An advocate for prisoners also calls for restraint. Rebekah Evenson, staff attorney for the nonprofit Prison Law Office, suggested that part of the problem is that the crackdown on sex offenders — particularly regarding reporting and residency requirements regardless of the magnitude of their crime — has overwhelmed the system.
*Much more at link!
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/30/Sex-offender-issues-often-go-to-voters/
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.
<snipped>
The effort to pass “Chelsea’s Law” to restrain sex offenders has so far been the purview of lawmakers, but it could wind up ultimately decided by voters. That has been the pattern with some strict public-safety proposals by Republicans that the Democratic-controlled Legislature has been reluctant to pass.
“The legislative leaders put extreme liberals on the committee to make sure they kill this type of good public policy before it even gets to the floor,” said Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, who represents a swath of northern San Diego County.
At times, frustrated Republicans have gathered signatures to force ballot measures such as Jessica’s Law, which targeted sex offenders by increasing penalties, restricting their movements and barring them from living near schools and parks. The 2006 initiative grew out of several measures that failed in the Legislature, and it passed with more than 70 percent of the vote.
Voters adopted another initiative two years later by 53.8 percent, designed to extend broad new rights to victims and keep offenders in prison for much longer. It is known as Marsy’s Law after Marsy Nicholas, who was killed by an ex-boyfriend in 1983. “Almost every one of these, whether it’s Jessica’s Law or Marsy’s Law, were on the ballot because we can’t get them out of the Legislature,” Wyland said.
An advocate for prisoners also calls for restraint. Rebekah Evenson, staff attorney for the nonprofit Prison Law Office, suggested that part of the problem is that the crackdown on sex offenders — particularly regarding reporting and residency requirements regardless of the magnitude of their crime — has overwhelmed the system.
*Much more at link!
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/30/Sex-offender-issues-often-go-to-voters/
