VT- Lawmakers release sex offender plan

11-13-2008 Vermont:

MONTPELIER – An expansive proposal to protect children from sexual violence will pass through the Vermont Senate in the first two weeks of the upcoming legislative session, a top Democratic lawmaker promised Wednesday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee released a 34-point plan that would enhance the oversight of sexual predators, bolster prevention education, reform court procedures and create a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for some sexual offenders. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin said he would speed the proposal through the Senate at the outset of the new biennium.

"What (the Judiciary Committee) is presenting to me today is a 34-point plan that is my intention to pass in the first two weeks of the legislative session that will make Vermont safer, and that will ensure our children won't succumb to the kind of pain and tragedy that we all remember," Shumlin said.

The committee undertook a months-long series of hearings after the rape and murder of 12-year Brooke Bennett in late June. Its investigation sought to uncover shortcomings in the criminal justice system, and to remediate any problems through new legislation and policies.

The report's authors concede in their findings that "it is impossible to know whether the circumstances leading to Brooke Bennett's murder would have changed if these laws had been in place." But many of the recommendations, lawmakers say, would have at least made it more difficult.

Five members of the Senate endorsed the plan at a press conference Wednesday, however only one House representative was on hand. Rep. Alice Emmons, a Springfield Democrat who sat in on the hearings, said the plan also had support in her body.

"The House does support this, and the House will be working on this issue in the legislative session," Emmons said.

The proposal includes a new law that would mandate a 25-year minimum prison sentence for some sex crimes against children 16 or younger. Prosecutors across the state had initially objected to a Jessica's-Law style statute over fears that it might undermine the system of plea bargains now used to convict most sex offenders.

Attorney General Bill Sorrell said Wednesday though that the proposal satisfied the concerns he and many state's attorneys had voiced earlier this summer.

"I'm happy to see it as part of the recommendations," Sorrell said Wednesday. "As long as we have the decision of whether to charge under the new law, I'm in favor of it. It's just another arrow in the quiver for us."

Many components of the plan are likely to win broad bipartisan support in Montpelier. Increased funding for prevention programs, intensified oversight of sex offenders – to include polygraph exams and computer monitoring – and the creation of fully funded special investigation units across the state will face little opposition.

Other aspects, however, may prove more controversial. One recommendation would expand the state's DNA database by requiring the genetic samples of any person arraigned for a felony crime in Vermont. Existing law requires samples only from people actually convicted of felonies. The proposal will likely come under fire from civil liberties groups and perhaps some Democrats who view the proposal as an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

The plan would also ban pre-trial depositions of alleged sex-crime victims. Vermont is one of only four states in the country that permits such depositions, and prosecutors have long called for an end to the practice. But defense attorneys, and organizations and agencies that represent them, will likely counter with stiff opposition in Statehouse committee rooms.

Shumlin said he would proceed undeterred.

"Nothing we do in this building doesn't entail a fight," he said. "But we're bound and determined to pass the 34-point plan … and we'll make it happen."

The plan is also notable for what it does not include. Gov. James Douglas had called for a civil confinement statute that would allow the state to hold certain convicts beyond their maximum prison sentences, provided the state could prove they continue to pose a public threat.

Sears said his committee was unable to reach consensus on the idea, and that it would not have prevented Jacques from re-offending.

"Michael Jacques was a success story according to the Corrections department, and wouldn't have been eligible for that," Sears said.

The committee also did not include a proposal to allow evidence of prior misdeeds in new trials, a concept promoted by Douglas and state prosecutors.

Rob Hofmann, newly appointed commissioner of the Agency of Human Services, said the Douglas Administration was disappointed not to see all the Governor's recommendations included in the plan. But the proposal, he said, represented significant progress toward Douglas' goals.

"While I'm naturally disappointed some of the proposals do not include the Governor's recommendations, I am heartened that many of the Governor's proposals are included in the report," Hofmann said. "There's general agreement across the criminal justice system on many improvements that will make Vermont a safer place for children."

Under what are expected to be extraordinarily tight fiscal conditions, the issue of funding will figure largely in any new legislation. Sears said the special investigation units – the most expensive of the new proposals – would require somewhere around $1 million in new funding.

New prevention programs – to include the creation of a statewide school curriculum, grants and a public service announcement campaign – also will require additional funding, as will the increased manpower and equipment needed for intensified oversight of offenders.

Lawmakers said the public safety measures are a priority for Vermonters and would command the kind of fiscal attention necessary to implement any changes. Hofmann said Douglas is inclined to target additional monies at public safety initiatives.

Sears said the Legislature would gauge the success of its efforts by tracking crime and inmate statistics to look for any downward trends related to the new measures.

Shumlin said no legislative body could eradicate sexual violence altogether, but that the proposed reforms will mitigate its impact in Vermont.

"None of us in this building live under the illusion that anything we do will put an end to sexual violence against children in Vermont," he said. "What we are confident in is that if these 34 points are implemented, we have a better chance of making sure that Brooke Bennett's uncle would not have been able to undertake the heinous crime he committed against his niece." ..News Source.. by Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau