Sen. George Runner is a fan of spending the state’s money. No, he won’t spend money on educating children or giving Californians opportunities, he’s more interested in locking people up and making them into better criminals when they are eventually released. But one of Runner’s greatest successes, or failures depending on how you look at it, was the disaster known as Jessica’s Law.
In a report released this week(PDF), the California Sex Offender Management Board cited housing as a major source of recidivism amongst sex offenders. Jessica’s Law, passed as Prop 83 in 2006, banned registered sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of a school, park, or other children gathering area. This has severely limited housing availability for these paroled offenders. Since the law has been in place, homelessness amongst this population has increased by a factor of 12. The SOMB has found housing for some of the offenders, but the problem has far outstripped their resources. And given the budget crisis, who knows how long we can keep even a modicum of a housing program.
Homeless sex offenders do not make us safer, just the opposite. They are difficult to track, they are likely to live near schools anyway, and there is always the fact that the homeless are far more likely to commit crimes than those with stable housing.
The SOMB is now calling for Jessica’s Law to be revised.
Robert Coombs, a spokesman for the board’s chairwoman, said the members found it infeasible to call for abolishing the residency restrictions, given the sweeping voter approval of Proposition 83. He said state and local officials have the power to interpret the law to allow more housing for sex offenders, but the board believes that the likelihood of legislators fixing the problems in more comprehensive ways — at least in the short term — is slim.
“I can’t imagine a policymaker who would put their name on something that says we want to make it easier for sex offenders to find housing,” Coombs said. “Even though it’s a strong public safety concept,” lawmakers would be setting themselves up for political attack.(LAT 1/14/09)
This would require a 2/3 vote, as it was passed by the voters. Good luck getting a Republican to vote based on public policy rather than red meat to his base on this issue. Apparently he is “going with his gut” over actually looking at what is really happening. You see, he thought about this one night, and it seemed like a good idea, and he’s going to stick with it. Real world results be damned!
Meanwhile, Arnold’s people seem to be somewhat open to changing the residency restrictions. Former Corrections Secretary Jeanne Woodford has even called for the complete abolition of the residency requirements. And the underlying facts behind Jessica’s Law are rarely put better than she put it:
“The bottom line is, this is really what happens when we allow our emotions to get the best of us, as opposed to dealing with the facts,” she said. (LAT 1/14/09)