Viability of California's sex-offender law in doubt

The lifetime GPS monitoring of Prop. 83 too costly and complex to fully implement.
By Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 27, 2007

SACRAMENTO -- -- Law enforcement leaders who pushed for a ballot initiative requiring sex offenders in California to be tracked by satellite for life are now saying that the sweeping surveillance program voters endorsed is not feasible and is unlikely to be fully implemented for years, if ever. ... Under the measure, approved overwhelmingly a year ago, sex offenders must be strapped with global positioning system devices that can record their whereabouts even after they finish parole and leave the criminal justice system. ...

The difficulties include the impracticality of tracking sex offenders who no longer must report to parole or probation officers, the lack of any penalty for those who refuse to cooperate with monitoring and the question of whether such widespread tracking is effective in protecting the public. ... the law does not specify which agency or government should monitor felony sex offenders -- and shoulder hundreds of millions of dollars a year in related costs. ...

...GPS is more effective for acting on tips about potential crimes or investigating incidents that have already occurred than for blanket monitoring that reveals a location as a blip on a map but not what the subject is doing there. ...

Janet Gaard, an assistant state attorney general, told colleagues that Proposition 83 appeared to be "a flawed law," ..."We have the ability to persuade the public and say, 'Maybe we made a mistake,' " Gaard said. ...

State officials say 500 to 700 more sex offenders leave prison each month ... and it would take nearly $90 million a year just to track the 9,000 now on parole if all were subject to Proposition 83. Full Story [Ed: Senator Runner and the Governor didn't think this through first? They were just pandering to public ignorance and vindictiveness? What a surprise!!