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Abstract: 

On August 16, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger endorsed the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act, a bill that would stiffen punishments for certain sex crimes and create lifetime monitoring and residence restrictions for incarcerated sex offenders released back into the community. Among other provisions, the legislation would require lifetime global positioning system (GPS) monitoring of registered felon sex offenders released to parole, bar registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks, and overhaul California’s policies for handling its most dangerous “sexually violent predators.” The sponsors of the bill, Senator George Runner (R-Antelope Valley) and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner (R-Antelope Valley), are also spearheading a petition drive to make the bill an initiative in the November 2006 election. On January 10, the Public Safety Committees of the Assembly and Senate both voted to reject the Runners’ bill. Criticizing the bill as costly and vaguely written, Democrats have countered with their own sex offender legislation. The article includes tables : Sex Crimes in California— Total Prisoners, and related statistical tabulations for California, Texas, and Florida on the subject.

Keywords: sex offender management; Tewksbury and Mustaine; National Corrections Reporting Program; NCRP; electronic monitoring and recidivism; buffer zones

Affiliations:  1: Stanford Law School.