Sex offender laws pass without Colburn's license provision

4-20-2010 Maryland:

Measure likened to a "scarlet letter"

ANNAPOLIS On the last day of the Maryland General Assembly's 2010 session, delegates passed a bill that would create stricter registration laws and establish a three-tier ranking system for sex offenders, but chose to omit an amendment to the bill that would add special coding to sex offenders' drivers licenses.

Maryland senators passed House Bill 936 Saturday by a vote of 44-1 with the driver's license amendment attached, prompting the bill to return to the House for approval.

With the session ending Monday at midnight, state Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore, the sponsor of the amendment, said he knew the bill's passage would come down to the wire, but had hoped his amendment would make it through as well.

"Important sex offender laws remained disturbingly unfinished," said Colburn. "If we're truly trying to address this issue with sex offenders, then we need to give this tool to police officers."

However, Colburn did concede that it was better to get some legislation passed than none at all.

The amendment would have required the marking to be done in a way that only law enforcement officials could understand, and would only have applied to more serious sex offenders.

While supporters of the amendment said the provision would instantly draw the attention of police officers to certain situations, opponents likened the markings to a "scarlet letter," saying it would make it tougher for those on parole to rejoin society and would drive more sex offenders underground.

In addition, critics said that sex offender's status is already available to police officers through database systems, making the marking unnecessary. However, Colburn has argued that the markings would be helpful in case those systems were unavailable or if the police officer did not have access to them.

Sex offender legislation stormed the General Assembly this session after Thomas Leggs Jr., a convicted sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, was charged with murdering 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell, the Salisbury girl whose body was found Christmas Day near Delmar.

Colburn said about 100 bills targeting sex offenders were introduced this session as a result of the Foxwell case, 10 times as many as would have been introduced any other year.

Although the driver's license provision was not passed, other sex offender laws that made it through the General Assembly on the final day of the session include:

• Reducing the number of dimunition or "good time" credits available to violent or repeat sex offenders. These credits allow inmates to be released before the end of their sentence for "good behavior."

• The state's publicly available sex offender registry will include more information.

• Minimum prison sentences for some child sex offenders have been tripled to 15 years.

• Requiring lifetime supervision of people convicted of the most severe sex crimes.

Despite all of the successes with sex offender legislation, Colburn said another issue elicited by the Foxwell case that went untouched this session was the state's de facto moratorium on the death penalty that stems from the fact that the method of execution has never been approved by the state.

"One of the best deterrents for a crime like this is the death penalty," said Colburn, of the Foxwell case.

With Wicomico County Sheriff Michael Lewis seeking the death penalty in the Foxwell case, Colburn said it is time for Gov. Martin O'Malley to strongly urge the Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee to bring back the death penalty. ..Source.. CAROLYN SWIFT Staff Writer