In his opinion, Espinoza cited comments by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck that Jessica's Law restrictions had resulted in "a marked increase of homeless/transient [sex offender] registrants."
In 2007, there were 30 sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles. By this September, that number had jumped to 259, Beck said. Most of the new cases were filed in the last six months.
"Rather than protecting public safety, it appears that the sharp rise in homelessness rates in sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles County actually undermines public safety," wrote Espinoza, who is the supervising judge of Los Angeles County criminal courts. "The evidence presented suggests that despite lay belief, a sex offender parolee's residential proximity to a school or park where children regularly gather does not bear on the parolee's likelihood to commit a sexual offense against a child."
In the wake of the ruling, the state Department of Corrections issued a memo Tuesday to local parole agents stating that they should immediately suspend the portion of the law prohibiting sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, park or play area.
The memo, obtained by The Times, stressed that parole agents can still use global positioning systems to track the movement of offenders and continue to enforce local ordinances governing offenders. "The duration of this order is unknown," the memo states.
State corrections officials said they could not comment on the specifics of Espinoza's ruling, but that the department would continue to monitor sex offenders in the best way they can. They also plan to appeal the ruling.
"There are other tools that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation can and will continue to use to further public safety, including residency restrictions specific to each offender," said agency spokesman Luis Patino.
Proposition 83, overwhelmingly approved by state voters in 2006 and informally known as Jessica's Law, imposes strict residency requirements on sex offenders, including rules forbidding them from residing near locations where children gather. Before the law passed, those residency requirements were imposed only on offenders whose victims were children.
Civil rights attorneys have argued that provisions of the law make it impossible for some registered sex offenders to live in densely populated cities. Nearly all of San Francisco, for example, is off-limits to sex offenders because of the number of parks and schools close to housing. Los Angeles officials also said there are few places in the city where sex offenders can find housing that meets Jessica's Law requirements.
In Orange County, where more than a third of the paroled sex offenders are homeless, dozens of homeless people started living on the streets in an industrial section of Anaheim because it was the only place they could find that complied with Jessica's Law. After complaints, police broke up the camp in May. But many of the offenders moved to another industrial area.
The California Supreme Court ruled in February that registered sex offenders could challenge residency requirements in the law if it proves impossible to avoid living near parks and schools.
Backers of Jessica's Law acknowledge that the rules have made it harder for some sex offenders to find housing, but they believe the scope of the problem has been exaggerated.
State Sen. George Runner (R- Lancaster), the author of Jessica's Law, said most parts of the state still have ample housing for sex offenders, including Los Angeles County.
"Clearly there are places to live in Los Angeles County," Runner said. "That's what's so astounding about the ruling. Even those who have found a place to live are now being allowed to live across the street from a school. You don't give a card to every sex offender, pervert in the county to let them live wherever they want. That's just wrong. The voters didn't want that and it's wrong for a judge to unilaterally decide that."
Runner said he was confident the geographic rules would eventually be restored in L.A. County and elsewhere. He also suspected that the judge's order might prompt local cities to impose their own rules on where sex offenders can live that might be more restrictive than Jessica's Law.
Espinoza's ruling comes as the Superior Court is hearing the cases of sex offenders. It is possible the judge could modify his ruling at a later date, or that a higher court ultimately could decide the matter.
In recent months, Los Angeles Police Department officials have been voicing concerns about the growing number of sex offenders living on the streets.
There are about 5,100 registered sex offenders in the city, and about 1,020 of them are prohibited under Jessica's Law from living near places where children congregate. Throughout Los Angeles County, about 2,000 registered sex offenders are subject to residency restrictions.
In a briefing before the Los Angeles Police Commission last month, Det. Diane Webb said some of the city's sex offender population has come to Los Angeles from surrounding cities that have passed sex offender rules even tougher than Jessica's Law. Los Angeles has no such laws on the books.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sex-offenders-20101105,0,146213,print.story
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Backers of Jessica's Law vow to fight L.A. judge's ruling
November 4, 2010
California corrections officials voted to appeal a Los Angeles judge's ruling that the 2006 statute restricting how close sex offenders can live to parks or schools was unconstitutional.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza concluded that the controversial measure left sex offenders in some areas with the choice of being homeless or going to jail because the law restricts them from living in large swaths of some cities such as Los Angeles.
Backers of Jessica's Law said they want a higher court to review the ruling.
State Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), the author of Jessica's Law, said most parts of the state still have ample housing for sex offenders, including Los Angeles.
“Clearly there are places to live in Los Angeles County,” Runner said. “That's what's so astounding about the ruling. Even those who have found a place to live are now being allowed to live across the street from a school. You don't give a card to every sex offender, pervert in the county to let them live wherever they want. That's just wrong. The voters didn't want that and it's wrong for a judge to unilaterally decide that.”
Runner said he was confident the geographic rules would eventually be restored in Los Angeles County and elsewhere. He also suspected that the judge's order might prompt local cities to impose their own rules on where sex offenders can live that might be more restrictive than Jessica's Law.
Judge Espinoza issued the 10-page ruling Monday after four registered sex offenders petitioned the court. He noted that the court has received about 650 habeas corpus petitions raising similar legal issues, and that hundreds more were being prepared.
In his opinion, Espinoza cited comments by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck that Jessica's Law restrictions had resulted in “a marked increase of homeless/transient [sex offender] registrants.” In 2007, there were 30 homeless sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles. By this September, that number had jumped to 259, Beck said. Most of the new cases were filed in the last six months.
There were 30 homeless sex offenders on active parole in the city of Los Angeles in 2007.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/backers-of-jessicas-law-vow-to-fight-la-judges-ruling.html#more
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LAPD chief opposes judge's ruling on Jessica's Law
November 5, 2010
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck issued a statement Friday saying he disagrees with a decision by a judge to block enforcement of a major provision of Jessica's Law, which restricts how closely sex offenders can live to schools or parks.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza concluded that the controversial measure left sex offenders in some areas with the choice of being homeless or going to jail because the law prohibits them from living in large swaths of some cities such as Los Angeles.
The temporary ban led state corrections officials to order parole agents not to enforce Jessica's Law residency requirements in Los Angeles County. More restrictive measures remain in place to regulate "high-risk" sex offenders whose crimes involve violence or repeated sexual offenses.
In his 10-page ruling, issued Monday after four registered sex offenders petitioned the court, Espinoza referenced Beck and LAPD data that there had been "a marked increase of homeless/transient [sex offender] registrants." In 2007, there were 30 sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles. By this September, that number had jumped to 259.
"Rather than protecting public safety, it appears that the sharp rise in homelessness rates in sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles County actually undermines public safety," wrote Espinoza, who is the supervising judge of Los Angeles County criminal courts. "The evidence presented suggests that despite lay belief, a sex offender parolee's residential proximity to a school or park where children regularly gather does not bear on the parolee's likelihood to commit a sexual offense against a child."
The LAPD statement said those referenced statistics were prepared in a report to the Los Angeles City Council's public safety committee "with information related to the concentration of sexual registrants in residential housing, not the merits of Jessica's Law."
"This report, approved by Chief Beck, was intended solely to discuss the potential impact of additional restrictions placed on top of Jessica's Law and not to draw a conclusion on the merits of any provision in Jessica's Law," the statement reads.
The temporary ban on the residency restrictions in the county, which has sparked an emotional debate, is not the last word on the issue. Espinoza could revisit his decision in the case brought by four sex offenders on parole, or the case could be challenged. Corrections officials said Thursday they would appeal the ruling.
Proposition 83, overwhelmingly approved by state voters in 2006 and informally known as Jessica's Law, imposes strict residency requirements on sex offenders, including rules forbidding them from living near locations where children gather. Before the law passed, those residency requirements were imposed only on offenders whose victims were children.
There are about 5,100 registered sex offenders in Los Angeles, and about 1,020 of them are prohibited under Jessica's Law from living near places where children congregate. Throughout Los Angeles County, about 2,000 registered sex offenders are subject to residency restrictions.
Civil rights attorneys have argued that provisions of Jessica's Law make it impossible for some registered sex offenders to live in densely populated cities. Nearly all of San Francisco, for example, is off-limits to sex offenders because of the number of parks and schools close to housing. Los Angeles officials also said there are few places in the city where sex offenders can find housing that meets Jessica's Law requirements.
State Sen. George Runner (R- Lancaster), the author of Jessica's Law, said Thursday that most parts of the state still have ample housing for sex offenders, including Los Angeles County. Runner said he was confident the geographic rules would eventually be restored in L.A. County and elsewhere.
Runner said he believed Espinoza's order might prompt local cities to place greater restrictions on the neighborhoods where sex offenders can live than what Jessica's law allows, which is being explored in the city of Los Angeles.
Espinoza noted he acted amid a flurry of challenges to Jessica's Law residency restrictions. He wrote that the court has received about 650 habeas corpus petitions raising similar legal issues, and that hundreds more were being prepared by the public defender's and alternate public defender's offices in Los Angeles County.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/lapd-chief-charlie-beck-says-hes-against-judges-ruling-on-jessicas-law.html#more
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Chief of Police Charlie Beck Regarding Jessica's Law
November 8, 2010
Los Angeles: Chief of Police Charlie Beck has responded to a newspaper article regarding Jessica's Law.
The intent of this statement is to clarify the Department's position relative to the comments attributed to Chief Beck in today's Los Angeles Times article, “Judge Eases Ban on Sex Felons.” The Los Angeles Police Department and Chief Charlie Beck DO NOT agree with Judge Espinoza's decision to limit the conditions of Jessica's Law.
On November 1, 2010, the Honorable Peter Espinoza, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, re-issued (originally issued over two months prior) a Stay of Enforcement of Penal Code 3003.5(b) as to registered sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles County. In that order, the court chose to include references to Chief Beck regarding the impact on the increased number of homeless registered sex offenders. Factually, the Department prepared a report to the Los Angeles City Council with information related to the concentration of sexual registrants in residential housing, not the merits of Jessica's Law. The LAPD completed that report and presented it to the Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee in October 2010.
Chief Beck supports this report as intended to provide the Los Angeles City Council with the information to make the most appropriate decision regarding adding additional restrictions to Jessica's Law. This report, approved by Chief Beck, was intended solely to discuss the potential impact of additional restrictions placed on top of Jessica's Law and not to draw a conclusion on the merits of any provision of Jessica's Law.
Chief Charlie Beck DOES NOT agree with Judge Espinoza's decision to limit the conditions of Jessica's Law.
Go to LAPDOnline.org. Click on Police Commission (on left side of page). Navigate to "Meeting Agendas, October 5, 2010, and Item No. 8-E.
http://lapdblog.typepad.com/lapd_blog/2010/11/chief-of-police-charlie-beck-regarding-jessicas-law.html |
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EDITORIAL
The flaw in Jessica's Law
Banning sexual predators from living close to schools and parks forced many ex-cons into homelessness, making them harder to monitor, and making it harder to protect society.
November 6, 2010
Before parents shudder at the thought of sex offenders now being allowed to live within 2,000 feet of schools and parks, they should remember the utter lack of evidence that the restriction ever kept a child from being molested. Sexual predators don't stick to a half-mile radius when it comes to finding victims. And making them homeless, as Jessica's Law sometimes did, is more dangerous to the public. That's why Thursday's Superior Court ruling that found sections of the law unconstitutional isn't just good news for ex-convicts trying to find a place in society; it's better for society too.
"It's harder to protect the public when he is homeless," a Ventura County prosecutor told The Times three years ago, when a molester there was unable to find housing. "Were he in a condo or an apartment, we could supervise him more effectively."
The law also places a burden on residents of rural counties, where the distance between housing and schools makes it easier for ex-cons to live in compliance with the law, and on those who live near the few urban spots where offenders can congregate. In Orange County, for example, more than a third of registered offenders are homeless. Many of them set up camp in an industrial zone in Anaheim, which was hardly reassuring to nearby residents.
Voters could hardly be blamed, when 70% of them approved Proposition 83 in 2006, for trying to protect children from dangerous predators. It almost, sort of, makes sense to say that sexual offenders shouldn't live near places where children can be found without direct parental supervision — if, that is, you don't know much about how such offenders operate, or that most molestations are committed not by strangers but by relatives, family friends or acquaintances. Another problem with the law is that it treats a person convicted of statutory rape for having sex with an underage girlfriend the same way it treats a repeat child molester.
The law has had profound negative effects on ex-cons trying to rebuild their lives, while doing almost nothing to keep them from re-offending. As it happens, no one yet knows the most effective ways to stop sexual predators, short of keeping children within eyeshot every moment. It is a subject that begs for serious and comprehensive study. Once we have better answers, we can engage in a serious discussion of which restrictions on parolees are justified in the name of preventing horrendous crimes.
"I am the most dangerous type of sexual predator," John Albert Gardner III told CBS news in an interview six months after being sentenced to life in prison for the rapes and deaths of two teenage girls in San Diego County, Amber Dubois and Chelsea King. The first was walking to school; the latter going for a jog at a lakeside park. Neither was saved by Jessica's Law.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-jessica-20101106,0,2003074,print.story |
