Dozens of bills target sex offenders
April 19, 2006

Bills targeting sex offenders are a top priority for lawmakers this session. But critics say the push might not accomplish much.

In a push to calm worried parents, catch the bad guys and maybe even rack up a few votes in an election year, state lawmakers are pushing at least 26 bills this year that would place tighter restrictions on sexual predators and offenders.

Among the proposed measures: banning the offenders from getting drugs like Viagra, barring them from living within 2,500 feet of places where children congregate, and making it a crime if they don't have a Scarlet Letter-type marking on their driver's licenses.

The Legislature has made other similar bills targeting sex criminals a priority during this year's session, motivated by the number of high-profile cases in the state in recent years.

"This has blossomed into a really big thing because now we know it's out there," said state Rep. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat who sits on several House justice committees. "That's why you see this avalanche now to try and stop it."

With just three weeks remaining until the end of the 60-day legislative session, many of the sex offender bills have no hearings scheduled for them and will likely go nowhere.

But there are a few that have bipartisan support and are moving through both chambers.

Lawmakers support a measure that would make it illegal for the state's 5,500 convicted predators to possess or take erectile-dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. Violators could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

"These are true evildoers that have no business having these types of drugs," said state Rep. Aaron Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican who filed the House version of the bill, which recently won unanimous support from the House.

Its Senate counterpart, filed by Eustis Republican Sen. Carey Baker, is awaiting a vote by the full chamber.

But critics are skeptical that such bills will actually help police and prosecutors.

Jill Levenson, a board member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, said legislators are feeling pressure from their constituents - and the media - to pass laws against sex offenders. But more research needs to be done, she said, to determine a better strategy to deal with the problem.

"I don't doubt their good intentions," Levenson said. "But I do think social policy should be passed with some more forethought as to what might be the potential consequences."

Banning sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of places where children congregate, for example, seems like a logical way to keep sex criminals away from children.

Cities and counties throughout the state have already enacted similar laws, but the proposed legislation would be a statewide mandate - forcing sex offenders out of metropolitan areas, which are peppered with schools, bus stops and parks, into more rural communities.

Forcing offenders to move is not the solution, said state Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat and former federal prosecutor.

"We have to make sure we don't drive predators into the shadows where it's harder to track them," he said. "It's not as simple as it sounds."

Critics of the proposed 2,500-foot law, which has little steam in the Legislature, also say it would cause added stress on the offenders because they would have to move away from their families and jobs.

"Everybody agrees that children need to be protected from sex offenders, but residency restrictions are not feasible to accomplish that goal," Levenson said. "It's not in the best interest of public safety."

Ted Shaw, a Gainesville psychologist who is one of Florida's top experts on sexual offenders, called the proposed laws "ill-conceived, feel-good legislation" that will likely provide little benefit.

"It sounds good when you first look at it and it makes people feel safer," he said. "But there is no indication that this protects anybody."

Lawmakers are also tweaking the Jimmy Ryce Act, passed in 1998 to create the state's civil commitment program for sexually violent predators.

Named after the 9-year-old boy who was abducted, raped and killed just blocks from his Redland home in South Miami-Dade, the law was intended to provide a secure treatment facility to house sexual offenders who suffer from mental illnesses after they have served their prison sentences.

But a Miami Herald series published in January exposed glaring problems at the DeSoto County facility, including lack of control by management and disciplinary problems among the committed offenders. Also, many of the sex predators - those who commit violent sex crimes against children - refuse treatment at the facility. The House recently voted unanimously to approve a bill that would limit continuances in court proceedings to 90 days and allow those detainees who are deemed mentally ill to be transferred to a secure forensic mental hospital for treatment.

Miami Republican Sen. Alex Villalobos, who filed the original Jimmy Ryce Act, acknowledged that changes are needed - starting with more funding from the Legislature.

Source: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/14373747.htm
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