Proposition 83 of 2006 (also known as the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act: Jessica's Law or simply, Jessica's Law) was a

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

enacted by 70% of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

voters on November 7, 2006, authored by State Senator George Runner ( R-

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...

) and State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner (R-Antelope Valley). It was proposed by means of the

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

process as a version of the '' Jessica's Law'' proposals that had been considered in other states.

Provisions

The Act was a lengthy and complex measure that made many changes to the

California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the United States, American state of California. It was origin ...

and the Welfare and Institutions Code. Its provisions increased the penalties for sex offenders, broadened the definition of certain sexual offenses, eliminated good time credits for early release of certain offenders, prohibited

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

for certain crimes, extended parole for some offenses, increased court-imposed fees on sex offenders and provided for lifelong GPS monitoring of high risk sex offenders. The law also barred convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or any place where children gather—effectively blocking them from living in the vast majority of the areas of large California cities, until the provision was found unconstitutional by

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

in March 2015. Under the law, a sex offender with a minimum of one victim and any previous criminal history may be civilly committed for an indefinite period.

Initiative campaign

The law was sponsored by husband and wife legislators State Senator George Runner ( R-

) and State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner ( R-

). It was supported by Governor Schwarzenegger and law enforcement throughout the state. California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (a criminal defense attorneys association) opposed Proposition 83 and wrote the opposing argument for the voter pamphlet. They argued the restrictions would cause problems with finding a place of residence for freed convicts.

Result of vote

2006 California Proposition 83 results map by county

Enforcement

In November 2006, enforcement of the new law was initially blocked in four counties by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston who ruled in a lawsuit filed by an existing offender based on its retroactive nature. However, three months later, U.S. District Judge

Jeffrey White Jeffrey Steven White (born September 2, 1945) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Early life, education, and career Bor ...

dismissed that lawsuit. In 2010, the

ruled that the residency requirements of Jessica's Law could be applied retroactively. On September 12, 2012, a state appeals court blocked enforcement of the residency requirements of Jessica's Law for all paroled sex offenders in San Diego County, affirming a lower court ruling, stating that it was an unconstitutional blanket condition of parole that "limits the housing choices of all sex offenders identically, without regard to the type of victim or the risk of reoffending." During 2014 RSOL's Californian chapter CA RSOL sued over 20 municipalities in federal court over sex offender ordinances causing at least 44 other municipalities to either repeal or quit enforcing their ordinances in order to avoid litigation. In March 2015

deemed blanket residency restrictions unconstitutional citing their counterproductive effect and unfairness. The

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacra ...

(CDCR) has stated that every registered sex offender paroled after the law's passage in 2006 is wearing a GPS device. However, CDCR is responsible for only 11% of California's sex offenders statewide, and "only a fraction of the state's registered sex offenders wear a GPS unit".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Full text of Proposition 83Yes on 83 Jessica's LawAnti-Prop 83Campaign Expenditures for Jessica's Law
83 Sex laws Sex offender registration Initiatives in the United States Sex offender registries in the United States