“Laws to Track Sex Offenders Encouraging Homelessness”
Strict new laws aimed at keeping track of sex offenders after they leave prison appear to be having the opposite effect, encouraging homelessness in a population believed more likely to re-offend if cast into the streets without structure or family support, say prosecutors, police, parole officials and experts on managing sex offenders.
The issue is starkest in California, where the number of sex crime parolees registering as transient has jumped more than 800 percent since Proposition 83 was passed in November 2006. The “Jessica’s Law” initiative imposed strict residency rules and called for all offenders to wear Global Positioning System bracelets for the rest of their lives….
“The public definitely was sold a bill of goods on this one,” said Detective Diane Webb, supervisor of the Los Angeles Police Department unit that tracks 5,000 sex offenders in Los Angeles County. “Unfortunately, it bodes well for politicians to support it because the public does have this false sense of security that this is somehow protecting them when it’s not.”…
Similar complications face 31 other states that have passed residency restrictions. Georgia’s Supreme Court last year struck down its law on the grounds that the 1,000-foot restriction violated property rights; the succeeding measure also faces a court challenge. Homeless offenders in Miami huddled nightly under a bridge after being kicked off a vacant lot neighboring a center for abused children. [The Miami sex offender shanty is what is pictured in this post’s photo.]
In Iowa, the number of sex offenders whose whereabouts were unknown doubled after passage of residence restrictions. “I don’t think anybody has found any evidence that they contribute to safety,” said Corwin Ritchie, head of the Iowa County Attorneys Association. “The main defenders are people who are just basing it on emotion, not good public policy. I think most legislators have figured that out in their hearts.”…
The state lawmaker who championed Proposition 83 said he was not bothered by homelessness resulting from the initiative because every transient offender is supposed to be wearing an ankle bracelet. “We knew the consequence from the very beginning; that’s why we included GPS as well as residency requirements,” said state Sen. George Runner, a Republican who represents an L.A. exurb.