2-9-2011 California:
In 1995, Jaymar Brown, then a member of the Conway Gangstas street gang, participated in a gang rape and murder. He didn't pull the trigger, but he was an accessory.
Now Brown, having served a 14-year prison sentence, is out on parole. He claims he is Christian, eager to rejoin society and to live a productive life.
"I feel like what's done is done," said Brown, 32. "I did my time. It made me a better man."
It also made Brown a registered sex offender.
Brown contends ill-conceived provisions of Jessica's Law, as well as obstacles imposed by local parole authorities, are thwarting his effort to rebuild his life.
His situation - besides its particulars - raises the question of whether voters overreacted and created new problems by passing Jessica's Law.
California's Prop. 83, passed in 2006, prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 yards of schools or parks, among its other provisions.
Voters are right to fear sex offenders. But 2,000 feet is more than one-third of a mile. Almost every city dweller lives within one-third of a mile of a school or park.
Brown, jobless and unable to pay rent, says numerous relatives offered him a place to stay. His parole officer had to refuse. The homes are near parks or schools.
So Brown lives in his car.
Fitted with a GPS ankle monitor that tracks his whereabouts, he parks his 1988 Volvo on a side street near the fairgrounds. There he must remain, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Brown has lived on the street since November.
"I just wrap up in my blanket and try to make it through the night," he said.
Saying he wants to find a job, Brown further complains that restrictions imposed locally by his parole agent complicate his search.
He used to get occasional day labor from a local labor hall. Workers, however, must report by 5 a.m. Brown is not free to leave his spot until 6 a.m.
He got a night shift job as a manager with Multiple Records, a local hip-hop label and concert promotions outfit. His parole officer forced him to quit.
In part, Brown chose his lot. He attends San Joaquin Delta College by day, working toward a degree in business. He could drop out and seek a day job. He chooses college.
But not homelessness.
"I worry from time to time," Brown said of the unsafe street. "But I just try to put my faith in God that He'll keep me safe, despite the odds."
Any parole agent will tell you reintegrating parolees into society works better if they live with relatives. And psychiatrists say they cannot successfully treat sex offenders who lack a stable environment.
According to the state Attorney General's Office, as reported recently in the press, before Jessica's Law passed there were only 88 homeless registered sex offenders; by August, there were approximately 5,064.
"I can tell you, yes, there's a problem with this particular issue," said Cassandra Hockenson, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "But we can't do anything about this."
The courts can.
A challenge to Jessica's Law went to the state Supreme Court. The court directed local courts to decide the constitutionality of the residence restrictions. Cases are working their way through local courts now.
Brown has twice violated parole. He says his violations were technical, not serious breaches, such as committing a crime or testing dirty for drugs.
He feels thwarted.
"I know the world is not a fair place," Brown said. "But I feel like nobody understands or cares I was trying to do right but that they were trying to put obstacles in my path to make me give up."
A supervisor in the local parole office said Brown is just chafing at necessary parole conditions.
"Mr. Jaymar Brown just doesn't like to have any other outside control over his life," said Susan Kane, supervisor of the Delta GPS Sex Offender Unit and boss of Brown's parole agent.
"As I explained to him," Kane said, "we're very supportive of his reintegration to the community. But he has to do it within parameters in order to ensure the public is protected."
Brown's criminal history suggests he's likelier to commit crime at night, Kane said. Hence the curfew.
What about the 6 a.m. roadblock to the 5 a.m. labor hall? Kane said her office periodically re-evaluates cases.
"We will take another look at his case ... and if he's doing well, we will definitely ... re-evaluate his conditions."
In my opinion, any obstacles to parolees working a legitimate job ought to be removed sooner rather than later. Thwart them at every turn, and they're going to give up and return to crime.
As for Jessica's Law, is it in society's interests to create a growing army of homeless registered sex offenders living on the edge? Clear thinking, not just fear and loathing, should go into the answer. ..Source.. Michael Fitzgerald
February 9, 2011
Weighing wisdom of law forcing sex offenders into homelessness
July 6, 2009
CA- Murphy's Law: Bad legislation comes back to haunt author
7-6-2009 California:
Sometimes bad laws have a way of coming back to bite the people most responsible for enacting them. That's the case with state Sen. George Runner, the principal sponsor of Proposition 83, the 2006 initiative popularly known as Jessica's Law, which voters approved overwhelmingly.
Among other things, the law severely restricts where sexual offenders can live after being released from prison. Under its provisions, those convicted of rape or child molestation or even misdemeanor indecent exposure cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school or a park.
As critics of Proposition 83 pointed out, such tight restrictions have the unintended effect of forcing paroled sex offenders either into homelessness or into rural and suburban communities where law enforcement is thin and jobs and counseling services that many offenders need to remain crime-free are virtually nonexistent.
This was not mere conjecture. Law enforcement officials in other states that had enacted similar restrictions reported those results. Because of that, many states sought to repeal or modify their versions of Jessica's Law.
Runner was fully aware of these concerns. Nonetheless, the Republican from Lancaster continued to press the case for passage.
But even before voters approved Jessica's Law, The Sacramento Bee's Andy Furillo reports, Runner had taken exceptional care to see that as few parolees as possible, including ex-sex offenders, would be sent to his suburban Los Angeles district.
Because his district is home to a state prison and has a large supply of affordable housing, Runner says, a disproportionate number of released felons were being housed there.
So, he cut a deal with the Department of Corrections, 10 months before the ballot measure was voted on, to reduce the flow of parolees there.
Under what Runner called a "side agreement," the Department of Corrections pledged to assign only parolees with "historical ties" to his north Los Angeles County district.
But the deal turns out to have been illegal. State law requires that parolees be returned to their county of origin but does not allow the prison system to direct them to or away from specific communities.
Last year, the department suspended the agreement. So now, Runner's constituents are in position to experience the full brunt of Jessica's Law along with the rest of the state. Because the suburban district Runner represents is less populated, its parks and schools more spread out, it means that more sex offenders will likely wind up there.
A special board set up to monitor the effects of Jessica's Law thinks homelessness among parolees poses a significant public safety threat. Since Runner's initiative went into effect, the number of homeless sex offenders has jumped from 88 to 1,000.
The costly, dangerous mistake that is Jessica's Law hurts all of California. Now it will be felt in full force in Runner's home district -- as it should be. ..Opinion.. of The Modesto Bee
December 19, 2008
CA- California's homeless sex offenders on parole up 800%
A perfect example of the failure of lawmakers to solve the ENTIRE issue. Under the guise of making the public safer, they enact residency laws prohibiting former offenders from living in a great portion of available housing areas, and the result is, offenders are roaming around without a permanent residence. Makes no sense, but thats true of most laws govering former offenders. Lawmakers care only about LOOKING GOOD PUBLICALLY not about real public safeguards.
12-19-2008 California:
Homeless sex offenders on parole jumps sharply
The number of homeless sex offenders on parole in California has increased dramatically since the approval two years ago of Proposition 83, an initiative that imposed harsh restrictions on where they can live, a state panel reported Thursday.
The Sex Offender Management Board said the number of parolees monitored by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation -- one of the only government agencies to enforce what is known as Jessica's Law -- increased from 88 in November 2006 to 1,056 at the end of June 2008.
"Common sense leads to the conclusion that a community cannot be safer when sex offenders are homeless," the report states, citing research concluding that unstable housing can lead to recidivism.
Jessica's Law, which prohibits sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of schools and parks where children play, was proposed by state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster) and his wife, Sharon, a former assemblywoman, and strongly backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
When the state board looked at its effect on housing for all sex offenders, including those not on parole against whom the law has not generally been enforced, it found homelessness had increased 60%. Potential solutions mentioned included housing multiple sex offenders in the same place and putting them in mobile trailers until they can find a permanent home.
The governor's office said Thursday that Schwarzenegger still "strongly supports Jessica's Law, which all involved concede needs fine-tuning." Neither the governor nor the law's other sponsors have offered proposals to amend it. ..News Source.. by Michael Rothfeld
November 21, 2008
CA- Jessica's Law blamed for homelessness (Court of Appeals Decision)
See video for significant commentary. Court held: "Imposing a residency restriction based on judicial factfinding violates the right to a jury trial as construed by the United States Supreme Court. (Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 490 (Apprendi).)"
11-20-2008 California:
SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- Thursday, a state appeals court ruled that Jessica's Law amounts to additional punishment. The law prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park.
This ruling leaves the current law in effect, but could limit its application in the future. Meantime, the law passed to crack down on sex offenders, could actually be increasing the danger they pose.
Jessica's Law was passed to crack down on sex offenders. Now it could actually be increasing the danger such offenders pose by driving them into homelessness at a significant rate.
To by-pass Jessica's Law, which requires sex offenders to live at least 2,000 feet away from a park or school, a stunning new state report found sex offenders in California are registering without any home address.
Before voters passed the law in November 2006, only 88 registered sex offenders statewide were homeless. A year and a half later, it jumped to more than 1,000. That's 800 percent higher and the Sex Offender Management Board blames it on Jessica's Law.
"It has created less and less places to house these folks. So you're seeing higher concentrations of offenders, and you're also seeing higher concentrations of offenders in places you may not necessarily want to have them, like hotels," said Suzanne Brown-McBride, from the California Sex Offender Management Board.
Studies show homelessness increases the risk re-offending, sexual or otherwise, because it leads to unstable employment and lower levels of support.
"An 800 percent increase is a very scary thing. You do want to be able to check your neighborhood and know where these folks are living and take precautions to protect your children," said Nancy Reagan, a concerned mother.
But enforcers of Jessica's Law say homeless sex offenders who have been paroled since the law passed are being monitored by a GPS anklet.
"By the end of the this year, early part of January '09, all of our sex offenders that are under supervision of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will be on GPS," said Robert Ambroselli, from the California Department of Corrections.
Therapists, though, say GPS monitoring doesn't stop someone from committing a crime.
"I think we need to pay attention to the magnitude of what we're asking for out of GPS. It won't prevent. It will simply track," said Gerry Blasingame, a family therapist.
The California Sex Offender Management Board will work with local communities in identifying places parolees can actually live.
The biggest challenge for the state is how to find residences that not only comply with the 2,000 foot rule but are also close enough to services they need to help keep them from re-offending. ..News Source.. by KGO TV
