In 2005, Jessica Lunsford was murdered in Florida. A registered sex
offender later confessed to the crime; he's scheduled to go on trial
in Florida this month.
In response to this tragedy, the Florida legislature passed a set of
laws known informally as "Jessica's Law." The informal name of the
act in Florida is "The Jessica Lunsford Act." These laws increased
penalties for sex-related crimes, tightened registration requirements
for sex offenders, and mandated the sharing of criminal background
information among Florida law enforcement agencies (among other
provisions).
I'm trying to assess the status of Jessica's Law--or legislation
similar to Jessica's law--in Washington state. I suspect a ballot
initiative may be under way, but I'm not sure if it's been successful.
Citations to government web sites, reputable sources such as the
National Conference of State Legislatures, or reputable news sources
would be acceptable to document the answer to this question.
(Interest group web sites, petitions, and so forth might point us in
the right direction, but they aren't always up-to-date--or even
dated.)
I realize that, in states where Jessica's Law just isn't on the table,
there simply might not be affirmative citations available saying, in
essence, "Jessica's law isn't on the table in this state," so, in
those cases, if you could just provide the search terms you used to
try to locate the information, that would be great.
Thanks very much. I'm happy to provide more information, if you need it. |
Request for Question Clarification by
bobbie7-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 15:57 PDT
Hello Celina02446,
Please take a look at the material below and let me know if it answers
your question.
Bobbie7
--------------------------
Benton to push for enactment of "Jessica's Law" in Washington
January 4, 2006
"OLYMPIA?State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, in keeping with his
history of protecting children, will introduce legislation the first
day of session to enact key provisions of Florida?s ?Jessica?s Law? to
protect Washington?s children from sexual predators."
?We must do everything in our power so that what happened to Jessica
will never happen to another child,? Benton said. ?My bill for
Washington?s children has six key provisions ? all of which are
absolutely necessary to protect our children from sex offenders.?
Benton?s bill will:
- Increase the penalty for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child
to life in prison or a split sentence of a mandatory minimum 25-year
prison term, followed by lifetime supervision with electronic
monitoring.
- Make sexual predators who murder their victims eligible for the
death penalty in capital cases.
- Designate failing to re-register as a sexual offender/predator or
harboring or assisting a sexual predator/offender a third degree
felony.
- Require those already convicted of sex crimes to have electronic
monitoring for the remainder of their probation.
- Require community corrections officers to check the sex offender
registry to note whether an offender newly assigned to them is a sex
offender and if all reporting requirements are met.
- Require offenders to report twice yearly to verify and update
registration information with the county sheriff.
(...)
During the 2004 session, after reading The Seattle Times series
?Coaches who prey,? and learning that Washington had nearly 100
teachers who had committed sexual acts with students, only to move on
to other school districts without as much as a note in their personnel
file, Benton worked with Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, to pass
the following legislation to protect schoolchildren:
Senate Bill 6171 speeds up and requires the conclusions of
investigations of school employees;
Senate Bill 5533 requires school districts to share information
regarding school employee misconduct; and
Senate Bill 6220 outlines and clarifies misconduct reporting requirements.
Washington State Legislature: Senate Republican Caucus
http://www1.leg.wa.gov/Senate/SRC/MediaCenter/bentonjessicaslaw010406.htm
Bill 6171
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6171&year=2006
Bill 5533
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5533&year=2006
Bill 6220
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6220&year=2006
|
Request for Question Clarification by
bobbie7-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 16:06 PDT
Celina02446,
would this be a suitable answer to your question?
"Today, Senator Sarah Curl introduced Senate bill 6822, which
addresses the issue of Jessica's Law. ?The bill is a good one
because it prevents child Sex Offenders,? said Senator Curl.
With the Jessica's Law when a Sex Offender commits a crime
they will have to spend a lot longer in jail then they are now.
The bill was heard before the Page School legislative committee
on January 11, 2006."
http://www1.leg.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F6673464-EE4D-4856-81E2-07704A47C7B2/21361/11320099999993.pdf
|
Clarification of Question by
celina02446-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 16:27 PDT
Bobbie7-ga,
Following up on your note about Senator Benton, I found the bill he
apparently introduced:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2005&bill=6389
I can't open the legislative history link on that page, so I'm not
sure what happened next. Did the bill die? Did it pass the Senate?
Did anything else happen with it?
Hnmmmmmmm.
I also tried to figure out what was happening with SB 6822, but I
think there might be a mistake in that PDF. . . or perhaps I wasn't
looking closely enough, and it refers to the 2005, not the 2006
legislative session.
If you were able to find some information on the status of SB 6389
(the legislation introduced by Senator Benton), since it seems to be
Washington State's version of Jessica's Law, I would be very grateful.
But it could be that the legislative history link really is broken,
in which case it might be tough to go any further with this.
Thank you so much for all of your work on this. This question is a
bit of a tough one.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
bobbie7-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 16:35 PDT
Celina2446,
Take a look at this bill 6389.
On the last page it says:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act shall be known and cited as the
"Jessica Lunsford Act."
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act takes effect September 1, 2006.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/6389.pdf
Does this meet your needs?
Bobbie7
|
Request for Question Clarification by
bobbie7-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 17:50 PDT
Dear Celina02446,
Please Download this document.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Pdf/Amendments/Senate/3277%20AMS%20BENT%20S5763.1.pdf
3277 AMS BENT S5763.1
HB 3277 - S AMD 305
By Senator Benton
PULLED 03/01/2006
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act shall be known and cited as the
Jessica Lunsford Act."
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act takes effect September 1, 2006."
3277 - S AMD
By Senator Benton
PULLED 03/01/2006
(10) Includes an effective date of September 1, 2006.
--- END ---
Official Print - 31
Unfortunately I have reached a dead end.
Do you consider this question answered?
Sincerely,
Bobbie7
|
Clarification of Question by
celina02446-ga
on
21 Jul 2006 18:35 PDT
Hi, Bobbie7--
I've looked through all the materials you provided and I think you've
more than answered my question. Thank you very much for all of your
efforts.
I think the legislative history link on the page I referred to earlier
was fine; it's just that there was no history. I checked the daily
status report here:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/dailystatus.aspx?year=2005, and sure
enough, it says that SB 6389 was referred to the judiciary committee.
And, as you say, I think that's it--the end.
Thank you so much for finding SB 6389 and for pointing me to the full
text of the bill; that was going above and beyond, and I really
appreciate it.
I had posted this question earlier, querying about the status of this
legislation in a group of twelve--twelve!--states, because I didn't
think much was happening in these states. Pinkfreud-ga suggested that
this wasn't a very good idea--way too much work for too little $$--and
now I realize how right pinkfreud really was. And I'm mortified!
So thank you, Bobbie7, and I'm ready to rate your answer whenever you are.
Best--celina02446
|
Dear Celina02446,
I'm glad to have been able to find the information you needed.
I am reposting all the information below to make this answer official.
Sincerely,
Bobbie7
--------------------------
Benton to push for enactment of "Jessica's Law" in Washington
January 4, 2006
"OLYMPIA?State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, in keeping with his
history of protecting children, will introduce legislation the first
day of session to enact key provisions of Florida?s ?Jessica?s Law? to
protect Washington?s children from sexual predators."
?We must do everything in our power so that what happened to Jessica
will never happen to another child,? Benton said. ?My bill for
Washington?s children has six key provisions ? all of which are
absolutely necessary to protect our children from sex offenders.?
Benton?s bill will:
- Increase the penalty for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child
to life in prison or a split sentence of a mandatory minimum 25-year
prison term, followed by lifetime supervision with electronic
monitoring.
- Make sexual predators who murder their victims eligible for the
death penalty in capital cases.
- Designate failing to re-register as a sexual offender/predator or
harboring or assisting a sexual predator/offender a third degree
felony.
- Require those already convicted of sex crimes to have electronic
monitoring for the remainder of their probation.
- Require community corrections officers to check the sex offender
registry to note whether an offender newly assigned to them is a sex
offender and if all reporting requirements are met.
- Require offenders to report twice yearly to verify and update
registration information with the county sheriff.
(...)
During the 2004 session, after reading The Seattle Times series
?Coaches who prey,? and learning that Washington had nearly 100
teachers who had committed sexual acts with students, only to move on
to other school districts without as much as a note in their personnel
file, Benton worked with Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, to pass
the following legislation to protect schoolchildren:
Senate Bill 6171 speeds up and requires the conclusions of
investigations of school employees;
Senate Bill 5533 requires school districts to share information
regarding school employee misconduct; and
Senate Bill 6220 outlines and clarifies misconduct reporting requirements.
Washington State Legislature: Senate Republican Caucus
http://www1.leg.wa.gov/Senate/SRC/MediaCenter/bentonjessicaslaw010406.htm
Bill 6171
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6171&year=2006
Bill 5533
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5533&year=2006
Bill 6220
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6220&year=2006
"Today, Senator Sarah Curl introduced Senate bill 6822, which
addresses the issue of Jessica's Law. ?The bill is a good one
because it prevents child Sex Offenders,? said Senator Curl.
With the Jessica's Law when a Sex Offender commits a crime
they will have to spend a lot longer in jail then they are now.
The bill was heard before the Page School legislative committee
on January 11, 2006."
http://www1.leg.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F6673464-EE4D-4856-81E2-07704A47C7B2/21361/11320099999993.pdf
On the last page it says:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act shall be known and cited as the
"Jessica Lunsford Act."
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act takes effect September 1, 2006.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/6389.pdf
Please Download this document.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Pdf/Amendments/Senate/3277%20AMS%20BENT%20S5763.1.pdf
3277 AMS BENT S5763.1
HB 3277 - S AMD 305
By Senator Benton
PULLED 03/01/2006
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act shall be known and cited as the
Jessica Lunsford Act."
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act takes effect September 1, 2006."
3277 - S AMD
By Senator Benton
PULLED 03/01/2006
(10) Includes an effective date of September 1, 2006.
--- END ---
Official Print - 31 |
