CA- Parole officials take aim at transient sex offenders

What idiot came up with this idea? Prohibit transient sex offenders from staying in any one place unless it is a homeless camp etc. ...... These idiots are going to legislate themselves into a corner. Under the new theory all one must do to comply is, to roll over, then they are in a different place.

7-30-2008 California:

Voters said paroled sex offenders cannot live near a school or park, so more are saying they don't live anywhere while bouncing from place to place to avoid the tight living restrictions of Jessica's Law.

Now, the state plans to bar those "transient" sex offenders from staying at any address for more than a few hours, while allowing them to settle in homeless camps, under bridges or at bus stops, including those near schools or parks.

With the new rules, parole officials aim to define what it means to "reside" somewhere under Proposition 83. The 2006 ballot measure set some of the nation's toughest sex offender laws, including lifetime GPS tracking for most sex felons and a lifetime ban on them living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children "regularly gather."

Critics call the changes for parolees a harsh and possibly dangerous reaction to the fact that in the Bay Area and other urban centers, little housing falls outside of the 2,000-foot zones.

Less than a year after parole agents began enforcing the residency ban, more than 1,000 paroled sex offenders across the state have registered as transient. That is one among every five parolees who fall under the law, state data show.

Parole workers have found that many of them are "couch surfing" within the banned zones, said Robert Ambroselli, state deputy parole director.

"People are kind of moving to a location, staying there for a day and moving on to some other location," said Ambroselli.

"If you're charging a (GPS) unit, that's one thing, but at one point you cross the threshold of 'I was just charging my unit and I ended up sleeping on the couch.' At some point, you've established residency. The department is trying to define just that."

Parole Director Tom Hoffman detailed the agency's plans in a July 15 memo to parole officers and supervisors. It was quickly rescinded so state lawyers could review it.

Except for work, business or treatment, the memo states, parolee sex offenders who register as transient may not regularly visit any banned address for more than a "brief or momentary period," and for no longer than two hours.

Also, according to the memo, the 2,000-foot rule does not apply to homeless camps, bridges or bus stops, no matter how close to schools or parks — a change from earlier statements by corrections officials. Ambroselli said he expects most of the directive to become policy after the review.

The shift reflects what many critics and even some Proposition 83 backers predicted: Trouble for sex offenders and the parole agents who manage them in finding stable housing that complies with the law. Jessica's Law does not define "park," "reside," or how to measure the distance.

The state paroles as many as 700 sex felons each month, and state maps show that in the Bay Area, few apartment houses or motel rooms fall outside the zones. Virtually none does in San Francisco. Some sex offenders said their parole officers suggested they register as transient to stay within the law.

S.T., a parolee in West Contra Costa, said he registered transient and arranged with his parole officer to tend to his ailing wife, build a contracting business and to sleep various places at night. The new rules, he said, would threaten his chances.

"Anywhere without an address? That's primarily under a bridge or in an open field," said S.T., who asked to be identified by his initials only, saying he was concerned for his safety. "I'd basically be losing my family. I couldn't do my job. It seems to me they're trying to lock everybody up."

Hoffman's memo "clearly shows how the parole division is struggling with this untenable situation that Prop. 83 put them in," said Ernest Galvan, a San Francisco attorney who represents four parolees in a case challenging one aspect of Jessica's Law. "The fact the pendulum can swing suddenly back and forth — now you can't be somewhere for two hours, now you can be under a bridge — it's a classic symptom of an unconstitutionally vague law."

Experts, including many sex-crime prosecutors, have called stability — in housing, treatment and family — key to keeping sex offenders from reoffending.

The proposed rules would prove counterproductive, one advocate said.

"You're saying they're a beast in the field. How are they supposed to get through the night?" asked Jake Goldenflame, a registered sex offender in San Francisco. "We're not likely to make them a better person if we treat them as if they're an animal that has to be kept outside all the time. It's going to make the state a more dangerous place."

The agency is simply adjusting to what it has found enforcing the law, Ambroselli said. Saying that bridges, homeless camps and bus stops are not subject to the 2,000-foot rule recognizes "just the reality of dealing with ... all these sex offenders," he said. "We're not saying that's what you should be doing."

One advocate said it's too easy to blame the state parole agency.

"They're sort of working with what they've been given," said Robert Coombs of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which opposed the 2,000-foot rule. "Most parole agents are really working to make sure their folks have stable housing as best as they can. In some cases, there's literally nowhere to go."

The concern over parolees neglects a group that grows daily — those off parole, said Nancy O'Malley, Alameda County's chief assistant district attorney, who sits on the California Sex Offender Management Board.

The law called for lifetime GPS monitoring but did not say who would track them, and local agencies have balked at the cost.

Just how many sex offenders who fall under Jessica's Law have since come off parole is unclear. In December, then-corrections Secretary James Tilton put the number at 500. Now, officials won't reveal a number.

"We're trying to figure that one out," O'Malley said. ..News Source.. by John Simerman, Contra Costa Times