Most of the time we can forget the madcap antics of our legislature in Sacramento and just do our work, live our lives, and take care of our families. Yet it is imperative that we always remember the importance of the actions that they take in our Capitol; once in a while they are absolutely devastating in the damage that they do to us. Such is the case in their recent actions regarding sex offenders in our midst.
For too long, careless and callous state and sleepy local officials allowed the authorities to deposit the most dangerous felons in our neighborhoods. We were the area of least resistance; suburban cities in Santa Clara County and around the state used all legal and many immoral actions to prevent any placement in their communities, while in San Jose, they were packed in the neighborhoods that were most at risk. As Mayor I saw many of the tragic results.
In California now, child molesters and rapists are in a protected class—strange but quite true. California landlords are banned from using the state’s Megan’s Law database to decline renting their properties to sex offenders; they’re not even allowed to warn other tenants or they can be fined $25,000 for housing discrimination
In the exotic land of Sacramento, the California State Assembly’s Public Safety Committee stalled a bill designed to fix the catch-22. Recently, California’s Megan’s Law registry was put online. Previously, it was only available at police stations. This is how our elite representatives, the heirs of Willie Brown, protect us!
The Megan’s Law movement began in New Jersey in 1994, after a seven-year-old girl there was murdered by a paroled child molester who’d moved in across the street. Here, we had the horrific Polly Klaas case. Megan’s Laws differ from state to state, but, in general, they require law enforcement to maintain a registry of convicted sex offenders living in the area and make this registry available to the public. This is critical to defending our families.
Our California legislators, so long under the spell of trial lawyers and ACLU-types who live in gated communities, have left us defenseless again. Thanks.
People will be paying for this callous incompetence with tragedies and tears while the legislators will be enjoying their brie and wine at fundraisers in their gerrymandered districts with their army of consultants who also live in hermetically sealed political wombs.
This corrupt system begs for reform.
This should OUTRAGE anyone living near these parolees. Why should the law protect them when they obviously had no regard for it when they committed these crimes?
There are some hard truths that our government has yet to recognize and utilize in its efforts to protect us. The first is that some human flaws are unfixable. The second is that once these hopelessly flawed humans have demonstrated themselves willing to cause injury to others, they’ve surrendered the right to live amongst the innocent and vulnerable.
We need to reclaim from the social scientists the fate of our cities and neighborhoods. The arrogant claims of the therapy industry, academic doublespeak which has contributed to countless tragedies, have been proved false: child molesters and rapists cannot be “treated” or “talked out” of their demented desires. All most of them get from psychological treatment are the skills that allow them to fool psychologists. An entire generation of degreed and esteemed charlatans has made a very nice living by inventing syndromes and practicing failure, all at a toll paid by the public.
Common sense dictates that sex offenders be segregated from the public—forever. We don’t need them monitored electronically or neutered surgically; we need them kept away from our children and our women, who are at risk enough from undiscovered predators. There is no need to subject the vulnerable to monsters already identified.
Prison should only be one component of the answer—the punitive part. The other part of the answer is the development of a penal community, one where manageable, sterilized sexual offenders could live and work without costly prison walls or cells, held in place by loose supervision and the certainty of punitive incarceration should they stray. The offenders could operate stores, provide services, exercise their creative skills, and worship as they wished (believe me, there would be religious leaders aplenty). Private industry, encouraged by tax incentives and cheap labor, could help defray operating expenses while at the same time providing the offenders with productive work, a modest income, and a sense of purpose. The offenders would be isolated until death, which would give the public the safety it deserves.
Oh, and if this plan isn’t vengeful enough for some of you, then consider this: we could also sic the psychologists on ‘em.
What do you suggest is the best way to force our elected officials to acknowledge that this is a problem and do something about it?
Could you provide the bill number?
Our own Rebecca Cohn sits on the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee and I wanted to see how she voted on this issue.
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=57
Found it: AB 438
You can see the bill and its status at :
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm
I don’t completely understand the committee’s votes on this issue but it appears Rebecca Cohn was for allowing landlords to notify tenants.
Great column Tom – absolutely spot on.
Yep, the legislature is broken.
Yep, this state is broken.
Sex offender rights come before the rights of the innocent? Tres bien!!
Here’s hoping that there are enough adults in the state to overcome the koolaid drinkers and the “Hey Hey Ho Ho” crowd on Nov 8.
Yes, the system is broken. It was broken when Tom served and prior to Tom serving.
#6 – How does anything having to do with 11.8 (I assume you mean 11.6) fix anything that this column is talking about?
11.6 is a Sunday.
#6 was more a comment about the sorry state of ‘our’ legislature that has absolute disregard for the public’s well being as evidenced by the actions of the Public Safety Committee (chaired by SF’s very own Mark Leno).
There’s no props re sex offenders on the 11.8 ballot though. Most likely we’ll have to wait for a sex offender prop on next years ballot (which is quite likely).
Two web sites that identify where registered sex offenders live are:
http://www.nsopr.gov and
http://www.mapsexoffenders.com
Both are free to use and instructive. I don’t know if our doodling and bumbling legislature has bothered to get California’s offenders on the sites.
Sick and tired of our dysfunctional legislature? Me too.
Want to throw the bum’s out? Me too.
http://www.calvoter.org/voter/elections/2005/special/props/prop77.html
http://www.calvoter.org/voter/elections/2005/special/props/prop75.html
Dear San Jose:
My thanks to Tom McEnery for writing such an important piece. May I suggest that it be sent to the Mercury and Chronicle for publication?
Whenever I read something on the subject of child molestors, I am reminded of the words of the comedian Dennis Miller who said that anyone who is even thinking about touching a kid…should “take one for the team,” and kill themselves!
Pete Campbell
Leno also defended his vote against a measure that would have made possession of child pornography a felony. “I do not believe it should be a felony on the first offense if someone is caught with child pornography for their personal use.”
Mark Leno is the chair of the CA Public Safety Commission.
Feeling ill? Me too.
Your chance to take action is Nov 8. via Props 77 and 75.
I”m the wife of one of the people you guys are persecuting. He made a very stupid mistake in his past, has spent his time in prison for it, and has become a better person for it. We have two lovely children and he is a very devoted husband and father and a good member in our community. Now thanks to this information being available our neighbors are being accosted by people they don’t know just so they can be “informed” about my husband. Why should our family, friends, and neighboors be vicitimized because of your worries about yours. WE have rights too!