Editorial: Right track on sex-offense law

2-22-2011 Colorado:

Legislators appear to have learned from last year's debacle in setting priorities for continuing a sex-offender oversight panel.

The state legislature has a chance this year to get it right when it comes to reauthorizing Colorado's highly regarded sex- offender management board.

Last year's misguided attempt, which included efforts to water down the board's power, was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Bill Ritter, and deservedly so.

Judging by the latest measure, which will be heard in committee this week, it seems state lawmakers are on the right track.

Created in 1992, Colorado's sex- offender management board was charged with providing statewide standards for the court-ordered treatment and management of convicted sex offenders.

The board's authority sunsets this year. The basic mission of House Bill 1138 is to reauthorize the board until 2020. But it's also notable for what it doesn't do.

Last year's debacle of a bill would have eliminated the so-called no- known-cure approach that has guided the management of offenders. Treatment is based on the belief that sexually abusive behavior is a compulsion.

This bill maintains that essential idea, but refines the language to include the proviso that through treatment, some offenders can recognize and manage the cycle of "unhealthy patterns" that lead to abuse. If so, they can be classified and monitored as lower-risk offenders.

It seems reasonable to acknowledge that some sex offenders are more dangerous than others, and tailoring the level of supervision to a reliable assessment of risk is appropriate.

Importantly, the legislation makes clear that the safety of victims and potential victims from physical or psychological harm is a priority.

In creating metrics for identification and evaluation of lower-risk offenders, the board must be vigilant in ensuring public safety.

Some other portions of the bill carried over from last year's bill are noncontroversial and appropriate, such as giving the state Department of Regulatory Affairs authority to investigate complaints against sex-offender treatment providers. That's appropriate.

Thankfully, this bill leaves out the element of last year's measure that was the fuse to the bill's implosion — the offender treatment choice option.

Remember that fiasco? Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver, amended the bill at the last minute to let sex offenders pick their own treatment providers.

Foster used her soapbox to push for the change without telling anyone her brother-in-law, a sex offender, had been treated by one of the providers she publicly railed against.

Even worse, she later lied about it. When a Denver Post reporter asked Foster whether she had a relative who had gone through the Teaching Humane Existence Program, she said no. A week later, she changed her tune.

The amendment was an objectionable element of the measure that then-Gov. Ritter cited in vetoing the bill.

It is important this new bill, supported by the Colorado Department of Public Safety, makes it through the legislature with few, if any, changes.

Without such enabling legislation, the board will cease to exist. We hope lawmakers respect the history of this measure and the urgent need for its passage. ..Source.. EDITORIAL The Denver Post