California Ballot Includes Sex Offender Laws

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters will decide on a proposition this November that could increase monitoring and penalties for sex offenders.

Proposition 83 would ban all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, park or other government-selected location; require felony sex offenders to wear electronic tracking devices for life; lengthen prison and parole terms for violent offenders; and increase penalties for Internet luring and possession of child pornography.

Parolees would be banned from residing in some major cities throughout California. Critics of the residency rule believe that parolees would be isolated from the services, jobs and family interaction that can prevent them from relapsing. Opponents also believe that by removing sex offenders from an area, parents will gain a false sense of security, putting their children at greater risk.

Supporters of the initiative hope to deter offenders from future crimes with the use of the monitoring bracelets. Proposition 83 would cost the state approximately $200 million a year for the next 10 years, according to reports. The tracking device would be the most expensive aspect of the legislation, requiring long-term and constant police enforcement and satellite tracking.

The proposition is based on Jessica’s Law, which was implemented in Florida in response to the kidnapping and murder of a 9-year-old girl in February 2005. The man who committed the crime was a convicted sex offender working as a laborer at the girl’s school.

Also in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a package of bills that bans predators from loitering around schools, parks and other locations where children might be vulnerable. It also requires offenders to be tracked with electronic devices for the duration of their parole.

The legislation does not include restrictions for where the sex offenders live.