DATE: December 13, 2005
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT: Supporting the Passage of Jessica’s Law
SUMMARY:
San Diego County has led the fight to better protect residents from dangerous
sex offenders. This region is a national model for cooperation and innovation
when it comes to tracking, supervising and containing registered sex offenders,
and we have made it a priority to raise public awareness about the threat
of sex offenders living in our communities. However, we can’t do
it alone. Progress has been made, but more needs to be done at the state
level.
In light of the California State Legislature’s failure to act on
important sex offender legislation, citizens and community leaders are
now pursuing a State initiative called Jessica’s Law. Jessica’s
Law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl that was
killed by a registered sex offender. Jessica’s Law, which is sponsored
by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will enhance the effort to better protect
children and families from dangerous predators through multiple changes
to existing laws, including increasing penalties for sexual assault and
kidnapping, requiring GPS tracking, prohibiting sex offenders from living
close to schools and parks, and protecting children from internet luring.
These are just some of the many necessary changes that Jessica’s
Law will bring to California, changes that this Board has been seeking
for several years.
Recommendations:
Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts
- Adopt a resolution entitled:
Resolution of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors supporting Jessica’s Law.
- Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to draft a letter for the Chair’s signature, informing the advocates for Jessica’s Law that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is in full support of Jessica’s Law.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact associated with this request.
BACKGROUND
San Diego County has led the fight to better protect residents from dangerous
sex offenders. This region is a national model for cooperation and innovation
when it comes to tracking, supervising and containing registered sex offenders,
and we have made it a priority to raise public awareness about the threat
of sex offenders living in our communities. However, we can’t do
it alone. Progress has been made, but more needs to be done at the state
level.
In light of the California State Legislature’s failure to act on
important sex offender legislation, citizens and community leaders are
now pursuing a State initiative called Jessica’s Law. Jessica’s
Law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl that was
killed by a registered sex offender. Jessica’s Law, which was sponsored
by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will enhance the effort to better protect
children and families from dangerous predators through multiple changes
to existing laws. Specifically, Jessica’s Law:
- Increases sentences and fines for sexual assault across the board.
- Expands and strengthens our basic sexual assault punishment statutes, including those for “One-Strike” Sex Crimes, “Habitual Sex Offenders,” and “Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child”.
- Increases the penalty to life imprisonment for kidnapping for the purpose of child molestation and for assault with the intent to commit sex crimes during a residential burglary.
- Expands the requirement for mandatory prison sentences and mandatory consecutive sentences for sex crimes.
- Requires registered sex offenders released on parole to wear a GPS tracking device for life.
- Requires offenders to pay for their own GPS equipment, if they are financially able.
- Prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park.
- Allows local governments to include additional sites they deem appropriate, such as a water park.
- Allows for the designation of predators as sexually violent predators after one offense, rather than waiting for them to strike twice.
- Allows for indefinite commitment to a state hospital until the SVP can prove to a court they no longer fit the criteria.
- Requires SVP’s parole period to toll while in the state hospital so they still have to serve their parole time after discharge.
- Increases parole terms.
- Provides for parole terms of up to 10 years for the most heinous sex offenses.
- Keeps habitual sex offenders off the streets by denying the opportunity to reduce prison terms through the use of “good-time credits”.
- Protects children from internet luring: Allows law-enforcement to act as decoys in order to engage and capture internet predators.
- Increases penalties for possession of child pornography: Allows possession of child pornography to be prosecuted as a felony.
- Imposes an additional 5-year prison term for persons who drug their victims in the commission of specified sexual crimes, such as rape.
Today’s action would adopt a resolution in support of Jessica’s
Law. In addition, today’s action will direct the Chief Administrative
Officer to draft a letter for the Chair’s signature, informing the
advocates for Jessica’s Law that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors
is in full support of Jessica’s Law. We urge your support.
Respectfully submitted,
Dianne Jacob
Supervisor, Second District
Ron Roberts
Supervisor, Fourth District
