First-time child sex offenders in Wisconsin may receive harsher prison sentences due to a bill passed in the State Assembly Tuesday.
"Jessica's Law" — a bill named for a Florida girl who was raped and killed by a repeat child predator — was approved by the Assembly in an 82-13 vote and mirrors legislation passed in Florida as a result of Jessica Lunsford's assault and murder.
The bill would instate a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years for sex offenders who commit first- and second-degree sexual assaults of children where violence or coercion are used.
"Sick individuals are stealing our children's lives," State Rep. Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, a coauthor of the legislation, said. "We need to keep our sex offenders off the street and away from our children."
Opponents of the bill said though keeping children safe is a priority, the legislation is too costly and may lead to inadvertent consequences.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said prosecutors do not support the bill because a mandatory sentence would eliminate their abilities to plea bargain with accused offenders in cases where reaching a conviction in trial would be difficult due to limitations of evidence.
"It's good to be tough on crime and feel like you're doing something to stop sex predators," Pocan said, noting the vote would be lopsided because of legislators' fears of seeming soft on crime.
Pocan also said the bill would be too expensive for the state, highlighting the $165 million cost over a 25-year period, and $632 million in additional costs, including construction expenses for building new facilities.
However, Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, another coauthor of the bill, said there should be no price limit when it comes to kids.
"This is a nationwide crusade — this is about children … and protecting children and making sure these monsters don't re-offend," Suder said. "The fact is too many sentences are far too lenient when handed down. This puts children at risk."
In other legislative action:
– The Assembly approved a bill requiring doctors to read a statement informing women seeking an abortion that after 20 weeks of gestation, a fetus can feel pain.
– The Assembly voted to pass a bill which would not allow the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to give home-mortgage loans to Wisconsin residents who do not have Social Security numbers.
– The state Senate passed a bill allowing the instatement of a tuition gift-certificate program for University of Wisconsin schools. The program would grant friends and relatives of existing and potential in-state and out-of-state college students the ability to purchase gift certificates for students redeemable and transferable at any Wisconsin state university.
