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Sex offender bills get nod
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Also by Ann Babe:
- Legislators introduce Jessica's Law (October 20, 2005)
- Parisi seeks prison releases (October 21, 2005)
- Study: attorney general race to be close (April 13, 2006)
- Senate override succeeds (January 27, 2006)
- Republicans criticize election reform (April 6, 2005)
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- Anthrax no joke (October 9, 2003)
- Doyle initiative realizes progress (October 13, 2006)
- Doyle officially signs awaited Compassionate Care into law (March 14, 2008)
- Bush signs Protect Act of 2003 into law (May 1, 2003)
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by Ann Babe
Friday, April 7, 2006
Under a new law authorized by Gov. Jim Doyle, repeat sex offenders can now be sentenced to life in prison.
The bill was one of 10 initiatives signed into law Thursday aimed at affording greater protection to Wisconsin children and other victims of sexual assault.
Authored by Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, the bill gives judges the authority to increase previously enacted maximum 40-year sentences to life behind bars for individuals convicted twice of first- or second-degree sexual assault.
"I'm very happy that the governor signed a bill today for two strikes and you're out for sex offenders," Wieckert said.
Wieckert added a zero-tolerance policy is necessary to deter sexual assault, as many offenders have "addictive" problems that make alternative efforts like rehabilitation largely ineffective.
The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a group that has actively supported the measure, agreed and also applauded the bill signing.
"It's legislation that holds offenders accountable," WCASA spokeswoman Jill Groblewski said. "It's legislation that allows judges the opportunity to help protect communities by taking repeat offenders off the streets."
The measure, called Assembly Bill 708, passed with bipartisan support in both the Senate and Assembly earlier this year.
The governor also signed legislation Thursday expanding the state's DNA database to include fourth-degree sexual offenders, as well as to individuals convicted of exposing themselves to children or forcing children to expose themselves.
According to Doyle, these new regulations will aid law enforcement in conducting criminal investigations.
"The governor spent his career fighting for convictions and tougher penalties for sex offenders," Doyle spokesperson Dan Leistikow said. "And this DNA database will help to hold sex offenders accountable for their crimes."
Other initiatives signed into law include a measure to allow victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse and stalking to request their voter-registration records be kept confidential, and a measure that would remove time limits for prosecuting an individual in the case of a first-degree sexual assault of a minor.
Other legislation Additionally, Doyle signed a bill into law Thursday allowing property owners to evict tenants who distribute or manufacture a controlled substance.
According to the bill, also authored by Wieckert, any state law-enforcement agency that notifies owners of such drug-related activities — or of gang-related activities — gives landlords regulatory discretion.
"Innocent, law-abiding people shouldn't have to move because of criminals next door," Wieckert said. "It's the criminals who should have to move."
The initiative, Assembly Bill 291, was proposed last year and passed with bipartisan support in both houses.
Anonymous (April 8, 2006 @ 5:17pm):
Florida Enacts New Sex Offender Law, May of 2005
1. I don't understand the name-calling and generalizations. Florida's Congress is comprised of majority Republican. Florida's governor is Republican. Why blame "the left?"
2. Florida's Congress and Governor were warned YEARS ago about problems in Florida.
(a) Reportedly, FDLE couldn't locate HALF of all persons released from prison (registered sex offenders) prior to FIVE children's murders, including Lunsford's. Will anyone hold the GOP-controlled government responsible?
(b) Florida's GOP governor KNEW someone hired unqualified persons to assess sex offenders under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act. No one knows how a "psychologist" gained the license after earning a GED in CA. and whose State application was reported to be fabricated. "Reportedly, " most others hired possessed no clinical experience. Florida's Dept of Children & Families was responsible to provide the assessments (deecisions) to State Attorney offices. "Reportedly," most of these workers never looked at the police reports in their assessments and had a REPORTED history of letting out the worst of the worst for years! The children's murders were a catastrophe waiting to happen!
3. Do you realize who is clasified as a "sex offender?" Somehow, everyone is lumped into one label. Teen guys who admit they "did it" with their different-race girlfriends were arrested as sex offenders...as was a police officer's son who was messing around with downloading porn in his room...as were "Black" people who exposed themselves while urinating in public. (Should they be targeted by users of sex offender registries?)
