It will help protect our children from sexual predators. If Proposition 83 passes, the main changes to California’s current sex offense laws will: (1) increase penalties for sex offenders; (2) require GPS monitoring of felony registered sex offenders; and (3) expand the definition of what constitutes a sexually violent predator.
One: Voting yes on Proposition 83 will prove that you support sound safety measures. It will imprison child molesters longer and reinforce sentencing by prohibiting probation from being awarded in lieu of prison terms. Keeping sex offenders in jail longer will indeed keep neighborhoods safer. If you believe in lengthening the duration of neighborhood safety, you must vote yes.
Two: Voting yes on Proposition 83 will prove you are deeply concerned about the 90 percent recidivism rate of sex offenders. A percentage this high almost guarantees a sexual predator will re-offend. Proposition 83 will impose GPS monitoring for those convicted of a felony sex offense that requires registration, who have also been to prison. Thus, by voting for electronic tracking of high-risk and repeat offenders – who aspire to relocate, evade re-registering and attack again – you wish to prevent sex crimes and save lives.
Three: Voting yes on Proposition 83 will prove that you endorse a method of effective precaution rather than awaiting the arrival of peril and reacting subsequently.
Currently, California law defines a sexually violent predator (SVP) as “a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense against two or more victims….” The penalties for SVPs are more stringent.
Proposition 83 will correct this absurdity by reducing the number of victims of sexual violence needed to qualify an SVP from two to one. Therefore, it will no longer be necessary to wait for sexual predators to violently attack two or three individuals before punishing them as SVPs. If you do not think that violent sex offenders should have second and third chances, you must vote yes on Proposition 83.
Oddly, not everyone in California has embraced Proposition 83. Criminal defense attorneys are opposed to Jessica’s Law because their livelihood is dependent on criminals- and repeat business is especially rewarding. Child molesters are certainly experiencing angst. Tougher rules, fewer opportunities, more jail time – they will have to switch pastimes to avert one-way trips to prison.
Likewise, do not forget the child molester sympathizers. They feel it is too harsh (referring to the “cruel and unusual” phrase from the Eighth Amendment) to subject child molesters to laws that protect children. They say it is socially stigmatizing to label child molesters as criminals – after all, it’s not their fault, it’s society’s.
Vote yes on Proposition 83. If you don’t vote, tell everyone you know to vote yes on Proposition 83 and save the children, our future.
Mike Pascale Jr. is a senior political science major, a weekly columnist and a copy editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
