MA- Victim’s parents target violent-offender laws

8-12-2009 Massachusetts, National:

Launch nonprofit to analyze recidivism

A violent offender is released from jail, moves into a town, and commits a hideous crime. The horrified community is outraged and demands a response. A politician drafts legislation, usually named after the victim, which at least temporarily quells the outcry.

But that legislation is often not effective, can target the wrong people, and leaves the community no safer than it was before, said Andrea Casanova, the mother of Alexandra Zapp, a 30-year-old sailing enthusiast who was murdered by a sex offender at a rest stop in Bridgewater.

Now, in partnership with the RAND Corporation, Casanova and her husband, working through the Ally Foundation created in her daughter’s honor, are launching a nonprofit institution that would analyze research done on sexual and violent offenders.

The idea is to study the issue of recidivism the way scientists study disease: objectively and with an eye toward prevention. The goal is to provide research based on scientific evidence that would guide policy makers and community activists as they draft legislation or strategies to deal with violent perpetrators.

“We keep making these laws that don’t protect the public,’’ said Casanova, who created the foundation after Zapp’s 2002 killing. “They don’t really help prevent recidivism.’’

The partnership between the Ally Foundation and the global policy think tank comes as several laws and measures that target released sexual and violent offenders are facing criticism.

Advocates say such laws, which impose a variety of regulations on sex offenders, help residents stay on guard for convicted predators whose behavior is difficult to predict once they are freed.

Others have criticized the restrictions, for example, limits on where offenders can live, rules that stay in place even if the offender never commits another crime. Often, measures do not distinguish between criminals who are at high risk for reoffending and those who are not. Under some laws, a teenager caught having sex with an underage partner may be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Through the partnership, Casanova said she hopes to provide a clearinghouse that will disseminate reliable research to both legislators and other citizens who want to know whether the laws in their own state or county are effective.

Greg Ridgeway, RAND’s director of safety and justice research, said the plan is to raise about $2 million a year to analyze existing research and conduct new research. The Ally Foundation will help raise funds and raise awareness about the effort.

“They are an unusual victim’s family, in that they recognize that there are serious problems in the system and they simply didn’t want another piece of legislation with Alexandra’s name on it that solves one little loophole,’’ said Ridgeway. “They wanted to do something bigger. They noticed there are tens of thousands of families like them, and they want to do something broader, that has an impact.’’

Casanova has pushed for new laws on sex offenders since her daughter’s murder. She successfully fought to pass Ally’s Law, a state statute that makes it easier to commit sex offenders even after they have served their prison terms.

Zapp’s killer, Paul J. Leahy, had previously been convicted of raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint, but a judge ruled he could not be civilly committed after his release from prison because his most recent sentence was for a nonsexual crime.

This weekend, Casanova is hosting the seventh annual Flip Flop Regatta, a fund-raiser for the foundation.

But she said this latest effort with the RAND Corporation is a “quantum leap’’ for her small organization.

“We are just trying to figure out what really would work,’’ Casanova said. “I’m hoping it will reset all the standards for how we deal with sexual and violent offenders.’’

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has worked with the foundation and supports the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, a federal law signed in 2006. The law, named after a 6-year-old boy who was kidnapped and killed in Florida, mandates that all states classify sex offenders into three tiers, strengthen penalties for failure to register, and order the worst offenders to update their whereabouts every three months.

The law, which has yet to be implemented in any state, has been criticized in part because it bases its classification system on the crimes for which the offender was convicted, not a comprehensive risk assessment of the individual.

Casanova said such laws are flawed because they are not based on research into successful programs or on scientific evidence.

Allen praised the goals of Ally Foundation, but said he is skeptical of research that would try to predict the behavior of offenders.

“I think the work they’re doing could add a great deal to our understanding of these problems,’’ Allen said. “The more we understand about why people offend and who they offend against and the more we can predict the behavior, the better we’re going to function as a society. The problem is the success of attempting to do that has been mixed at best.’’ ..Source.. by Maria Cramer