State laws on sex offenders should not be crafted by emotion
A group of convicted sex offenders gathered on March 7 at (California's) Carson's city hall for a march to demand equal rights to visit fast-food restaurants, parks, libraries and other public areas from which they were banned. (Los Angeles Times) March 29, 2015
Jessica's Law — California's version of it, anyway — was a mess from the beginning. Voters here adopted it (as Proposition 83) in 2006 because they mistakenly believed they were cracking down on horrific crimes against children. They were urged on by nightly harangues from national TV commentators who campaigned on-air for swift action following the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida, a crime that touched an especially sensitive nerve here because the circumstances nearly mirrored the nightmarish killing of Polly Klaas in California a decade earlier. But emotional outpourings of fear, revulsion and collective guilt too often translate poorly into policy and law, and that was surely the case with Proposition 83.
The latest reminder of the law's failure came last week, when state parole officials announced that they would no longer enforce the measure's blanket ban on paroled sex offenders living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children regularly gather.
That decision follows a state Supreme Court ruling this month invalidating the ban as it applied in San Diego County.
Californians have every right to protect their children from child molesters, so it would be understandable if they were perplexed by the actions of the court and corrections officials — until they realize that the residency restriction did nothing of the sort.
In fact, it likely undermined public safety for everyone, children included, by pushing paroled sex offenders from their homes and compelling them to live homeless or as transients, leaving the public in the dark as to their whereabouts and making parolees harder for agents to find.
That misperception is a problem, and not just because of concern for the rights of sex offenders. Californians can be forgiven if they keep their safety and that of their children foremost in their minds, ahead of justice for criminals. But it's a problem as well because it leads us to believe we are properly, effectively and efficiently expending public safety resources when we are not. Just as societal concern about rampant drug abuse led to laws that filled prisons with drug users, strained budgets and deflected attention from more violent crimes, the unfocused application of sex offender laws hurts rather than enhances public safety.
It's important to remember that California has had a sex offender registry since 1947, and that its purpose is to safeguard the innocent from people who are deemed to pose a particular, continuing risk even after their sentences have been served and their parole has been completed.
But behavioral science and criminal justice research have come a long way since the 1940s. It was once thought that people convicted of crimes involving sex suffered from disorders that made them constant threats to re-offend; or at least that it was impossible to distinguish between those who did pose such a risk and those who did not.
In fact, long-term studies of the general population of sex offenders show recidivism rates much lower than for the population of all criminals. But for particular subgroups, the risk of re-offending is much higher.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation determines whether an inmate soon to be released on parole is at high risk of committing another offense and, if so, that parolee may not live within a half-mile of a school. That properly tailored law was in effect before Proposition 83's blanket residency restrictions on anyone on the offender registry and properly remains in effect today even after the court ruling and the decision by the parole department to change its enforcement strategy.
Also, special restrictions will continue to apply to sexually violent predators — people who have been convicted of sexually victimizing another person and who have diagnosed mental conditions that make them likely to engage in additional sexually violent crimes. Even after such people are released from prison, they can be committed by the Department of State Hospitals until they are deemed to no longer pose a threat.
It makes sense to craft laws to protect the public based not on some sweeping designation of "sex offender" but rather on the risks posed by each subgroup and, when possible, by the particularized risk of each offender. The court ruling and the parole decision move California in that direction.
But there is pushback, and it is cause for concern. Public officials and commentators freely label any sex offender as a "predator," implying that each such person poses an equal risk to the public and thus must be equally restricted and supervised. Clearer thinking, based on data rather than emotion or demagoguery, would serve California better.
by The Times Editorial Board http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-sex-offender-registry-20150329-story.html
A welcome decision limiting residency rules of Jessica's Law
The problem with California's version of Jessica's Law — one of the problems, anyway — is that it so severely undermines the ability of a sex offender to return safely and responsibly to society that it may well make the person more dangerous rather than less. The measure's blanket ban on sex offenders living within 2,000 feet of a park or school pushes many parolees out of cities and suburbs altogether, keeping them away from drug and alcohol treatment, counseling, even their parole officers.
Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a news conference in 2006 urging Californians to support Proposition 83, also known as "Jessica's Law." The governor was flanked by Mark Lunsford, father of Jessica Lunsford (left) and Marc Klass, father of Polly Klass (right). (Los Angeles Times)
The California Supreme Court on Monday struck down those residency provisions of the 2006 initiative, also known as Proposition 83, at least as they were applied in San Diego County (the ruling is likely to change practices statewide).
The justices found not only that the rules increased homelessness and hindered access to treatment programs, but also that there was no rational relationship between the restrictions and the state's goal of protecting children from sexual predators. In a companion ruling, the court found that officials could continue to restrict the residence of paroled sex offenders on a case-by-case basis, as was done before the ballot measure.
Both are welcome decisions. There is simply no credible evidence to show that paroled sex offenders are any more likely to commit additional offenses if they live near where children gather; besides, the restrictions weren't limited to offenders whose victims were children. That didn't stop foolish follow-up actions in places such as Los Angeles, where officials constructed several pocket parks — not because there was a need in those places for parks but because they were seen as a way to bar former sex offenders from the neighborhood.
essica's Law and follow-up actions like L.A.'s pocket park construction were products of fear and frenzy, not serious thinking. That's an inherent failing in making criminal law by ballot measure. The consequences are seldom thought through.
So what about Proposition 47, which recently reduced several felonies to misdemeanors? An argument can be made that it was a product of starry-eyed, wishful thinking — perhaps as dangerous as fear — and there are concerted attempts now to roll back some of its provisions.
But there is a key difference. Proposition 47 is aimed at advancing the same interest that Jessica's Law frustrates — the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of former offenders. Police, prosecutors and lawmakers would be wise to learn from the Jessica's Law experience and base any policies in response to Proposition 47 on neither blind fear nor unfounded hope, but on real evidence about what works and proven methods of minimizing public safety risks.