Sacramento Bee; More than 200 sex offenders in violation of Jessica's Law in Sacramento region
This letter I did in response to the Sacramento Bee story of July 20
GaryBrune at 3:05 PM PST Friday, July 20, 2007 wrote: Problems with Proposition 83
What Ryan Lillis illustrates in this article is one of the main reasons why I voted against Proposition 83. According to figures posted by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on July 11, California incarcerates almost 173,000 people in 32 state facilities now. The prisons are at 180 percent of capacity.
First of we must establish what we want. If we want any sex offender imprisoned for life, then the consequences of that are that we build more prisons, raise the prison capacity to 300 and four hundred percent, well beyond what they are designed for, or make it a mandatory capital crime to commit any sex offense. The last option is unconstitutional, so we are left with the others.
At present, when they serve their sentence, sex offenders have to live somewhere. The restrictions of Prop 83 may get them out of your neighborhood, but what's left in California. In effect we have them imprisoned without walls. Which option is better for us?
By Ryan Lillis - Bee Staff Write
Published 12:13 pm PDT Friday, July 20, 2007
More than 200 sex offenders in the Sacramento region live too close to schools or parks, corrections officials said.
The parolees - who had served time in a state prison and been released since Nov. 8 - are in violation of Proposition 83, a bill passed overwhelmingly by voters in November that requires all convicted sex offenders to live more than 2,000 feet from schools and parks.
State corrections officials will review the cases of each parolee believed to be living within the 2,000-foot buffer, and those found violating the law - also known as Jessica's Law - will be given 45 days to move, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In Sacramento County, 175 paroled sex offenders are in violation of the law, Sessa said. Yolo County has 19, Yuba five, Placer three, Sutter two and El Dorado none, Sessa said.
http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/283469.html