California needs to keep dangerous sex offenders off the streets. With the provisions in Proposition 83, many sex offenders are left homeless and this makes it difficult for law enforcement to keep track of them.
Proposition 83 also known as Jessica’s law was passed by California voters in 2006. Jessica’s law states that sex offenders cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school or park. In keeping with compliance with this law more than 2,000 offenders have become transient–displaced from their homes because they were within the 2,000 foot range.
A California judge temporarily blocked the enforcement of a legal restriction on how close sex offenders can live to parks and schools in Los Angeles County because of these unanticipated results. The reasoning behind the suspension on this provision of the law is that it could cause a serious risk to public safety Many believe that homeless sex offenders put the public at risk. These offenders are unstable and more difficult to supervise.
However, I encourage voters to keep the 2,000 feet limitation. Instead of repealing the provision, I encourage the creation of alternative policies to fix the problem of transient sex offenders–such as allocating funds to better track and monitor offenders.
It is crucial to have better supervision on sex offenders who are most likely to recommit crime. Why are these sex offenders most likely to recommit the crime? Because they have been rendered homeless? Also, sex offenders should be required to take more frequent lie detector tests. These new requirements will help to reduce the risk of sex offenders recommitting crimes. How will a lie detector test help with this? Wouldn’t that be something useful in determining guilt, not in preventing crimes?
I urge voters to address this issue of security when it comes up on the next ballot and vote to keep the 2,000 feet limitation in place, and in addition to this stricter monitoring and more counseling for sex offenders must take place to track transient sex offenders.
