Proposition 83 - No


AbstractHere

This is part of my ongoing series of posts on each of the Propositions we'll be voting on. Here is the original post, with my ground rules for evaluating propositions, my scorecard and links to each of my arguments.

Proposition 83 - No

Summary - This measure would increase penalties for sex offenders and place stricter residency requirements, including requiring them to wear a GPS unit for life.

Commentary - I was planning on voting yes on this measure with a bit of hesitation, but I came across this OC Register article that suggests most of the provisions regarding penalties have been passed by the legislature.

My initial hesitation was mainly due to the GPS monitoring and residency restrictions - not because I have any sympathy for child molesters, but because I worry how vague the title of "sex offender" would be. I'm also a bit unsure if the residency restrictions wouldn't have unintended consequences - like forcing sex offenders to congregate in rural areas, where they might do even more damage. The other unintended consequence of both of these might just be to force more sex offenders into hiding from the law, whereas we may have had a better knowledge of them had we not been so prohibitive.

I think the easiest way to deal with sex offenders is probably to have some sort of life imprisonment in a community without children. They don't need to be locked up in prison, just sort of quarantined away from any children. We certainly have precedent for life imprisonment (even for drug addicts) and child molesters are a very serious threat to a stable and normal society. The wounds they inflict are profound and lasting, and destroy other's ability to create stable and happy families - or worse, they drive their victims to victimize others in the same way.

While this will probably never be enacted because of a powerful lobby of defense attorneys and organizations like the ACLU, stricter punishments are always welcome to me. So given that the punishment part of this law seems to have been passed, I think I am voting no on this one, though somewhat tentatively. I certainly wouldn't be too depressed if it passed, but rule #1 means that if we're not totally convinced of a yes, it gets a no.

Posted: Tue - November 7, 2006 at 07:20 AM | | | | | | |

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