Jessica’s Law and More:
The Angelides Plan to Protect our Children and Families against Sexual Abuse

As Governor, Phil Angelides will make protecting our children and families from violence and sexual abuse a central priority. Governor Schwarzenegger has failed to adequately protect the public’s safety. All too often his administration has failed to notify local law enforcement about placing paroled sex offenders in their communities, placed paroled sex offenders in motels near Disneyland and other amusement parks, let dangerous sex offenders go free because it did not provide required hearings, and allowed dangerous parolees to remain free even after they violated parole. According to a recent study, the Schwarzenegger administration has arbitrarily capped the number of paroled sex offenders subject to intense supervision, leaving dangerous offenders to live in many communities without intensive oversight. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation, passed unanimously in the Legislature, to oversee management of sex offenders and recommend ways to improve the public safety.

Phil Angelides will change that. He is endorsing Jessica’s Law, which will give California the toughest laws against violent sexual predators. And he will go beyond Jessica’s Law to assure that violent sexual offenders are kept behind bars and that sex offenders on parole in our communities get the supervision needed to protect our children and families. He will support victims of sexual offenses so that more of them will report crimes and cooperate with law enforcement. Freedom from fear of crime is a basic human right, and Phil Angelides is committed to making California the nation's leader in protecting its people.

Pass Jessica's Law

Phil Angelides joins law enforcement and victims groups in supporting passage of Jessica's Law, Proposition 83 on the November 6 ballot. The measure will put more sex offenders behind bars and give California law enforcement more tools to catch sex offenders and guard children and our families against sexual predators. Proposition 83 will:

Allow the state to subject violent sex offenders to indefinite civil commitment after a single violent crime. Under current law, predators are subject to commitment only after two violent crimes, and prosecutors must prove they are dangerous in court hearings every two years.

• Remove "good-time" credits for the most violent sex offenders, assuring that they serve their full sentences before being considered for parole.
• Extend parole terms for sex offenders to up to 10 years, so that the state can supervise and monitor their behavior.
• Bar registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks.
• Require registered sex offenders released on parole to wear a GPS tracking device for life so that law enforcement can monitor their whereabouts and keep them away from prohibited locations.

Beyond Jessica's Law

Proposition 83 is just a start on what California must do to reduce sexual assaults and protect children and women. As Governor, Phil Angelides will put in place a comprehensive six-point program that goes beyond Jessica’s Law to prevent sexual offenses, crack down on those who commit them, and assist victims.

1. Stop Sex Offender Dumping: Thousands of convicted sex offenders are dumped by the justice system every year into our local communities, most with little or no meaningful supervision. This dangerous and irresponsible practice must stop.

The Schwarzenegger administration continues to play Russian roulette with children’s lives by putting only a token number of paroled sex offenders under meaningful surveillance. Out of a statewide population of over 100,000 registered sex offenders and 9,000 sex offender parolees, Governor Schwarzenegger has arbitrarily capped the number of paroled sex offenders designated as “high risk” at only 2,000. The Schwarzenegger administration assigns only 50 specially trained “high risk” parole officers to this population. Offenders who aren’t designated “high risk,” or who are returned to communities not covered by the state's 50 "high risk" parole officers, do not get intensive supervision. At an average of 1 officer to every 40 offenders, caseloads are dangerously high and officers report they are overwhelmed and unable to adequately monitor offenders.

As Governor, Phil Angelides will take tough, responsible action to protect children and our communities. Before any sex offender who has targeted a child or committed any other violent sex crime is released into our local communities, he must be placed under intensive surveillance and control under terms of probation or parole. As Governor, Angelides will deploy teams of specialized law enforcement agents in communities across the state that can enforce tough, court-ordered restrictions, including restricted contact with children and close surveillance, as provided in Sen. Elaine Alquist’s SB 1128.

2. Lifetime Probation and Parole: Sexual predators belong in prison. But if and when they are released, they must be kept under close surveillance and control.

Going beyond Jessica’s Law, Phil Angelides will seek legislation to require lifetime intensive probation or parole for repeat offenders who target children, and the most serious first-time offenders, if released from prison.

3. Protected zones: Jessica's Law bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks. But it does not prohibit them from being in places where children are typically present. Phil Angelides supports legislation––including SB 1128––to allow police to arrest registered sex offenders who loiter near schools, playgrounds, nursing homes, and other places where they may target vulnerable victims.

4. Tougher penalties: Phil Angelides will seek longer sentences for violent sexual assaults than proposed in Proposition 83. He supports increasing the sentence for rape of a child under 14 years of age to 25 years to life, as provided in SB 1128.

5. Prevention education: In addition to punishing serious sexual offenses, California needs to do more to prevent them. Phil Angelides will work to provide training and resources for local law enforcement so that they educate their community on how to curb sexual abuse and protect children. Holding community meetings to notify residents about the arrival of paroled sex offenders provides an occasion for educating families about the risks of sex crimes and how to protect children.

6. Support victims: California cannot put sexual offenders behind bars and protect the public without the assistance of crime victims. In many sexual crimes, the victim is the only person who can report the crime and testify against the offenders. Because of the nature of sex crimes and the cultural stigma often attached to them, and because the majority of sex crimes happen within households and between people familiar with each other, many victims are reluctant to report crimes, testify in court, or appear at parole hearings. California provides too little support to help victims through the long ordeal of a trial or all the issues that arise when the sex offense happens. As Governor, Phil Angelides will create a Sexual Assault Victims Assistance program to improve California’s support for victims of sexual assault. The program will work with victims groups, law enforcement, and anti-sexual-assault organizations to support victims of sex crimes. Its goal will be to assure that every victim receives needed counseling, legal help, mental health treatment, support at trial, and assistance with living arrangements, so that more victims will come forward to put sex offenders behind bars.