Fairness for Prisoners' Families
Sex
offender bill gets feedback Supporters and critics of a bill to crack down on sex offenders in Georgia seem to agree on one thing: The measure needs more work. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard more than 2 1/2 hours of testimony Friday — from district attorneys, county sheriffs, victims and convicted child molesters — during a hearing on the proposed rewrite of the state's sex offender code. The committee did not vote on House Bill 1059, and the panel is expected to hold several more hearings next week. The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island), is a top legislative priority for 2006 for the General Assembly's Republican leadership. "I think the public policy objective of severely punishing the sex offenders who prey on our children is a goal we all share," Senate Judiciary Chairman Preston Smith (R-Rome) said Friday afternoon. "At the same time, we're looking very closely at the breadth of the bill to make sure we don't have unintended consequences, such as sentencing teenagers who exercise poor judgment to a lifetime imprisonment." Under Georgia law, registered sex offenders may not live within 1,000 feet of child care centers, schools or other places where children congregate. Keen's proposal, recently approved by the Georgia House, would expand that restriction by also banning such offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of public and private parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, skating rinks, gymnasiums and numerous other places where children congregate — including bus stops for public transportation. Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, said that while he supported efforts to crack down on sex offenders, he had some concerns about the bill. Norris offered the committee several suggestions, including these: • Prohibiting only the most dangerous sex offenders, as determined by the Sexual Offender Review Board, from working within 1,000 feet of bus stops and other public places where children congregate; • Requiring the state, not local sheriffs, to collect the annual sex offender registration fee of $250 if the offender is under state supervision; • Changing the effective date of the law from July 1, 2006, to January 1, 2007, to give sheriffs more time to study up on it. Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, who supports the bill, offered the committee some suggestions for improving its sentencing provisions. The 38-page proposal would impose mandatory 25-year sentences for some sex crimes and require lifetime electronic tracking for the worst offenders. McDade said he supported that provision, but pointed out that for some crimes that carry a life sentence — such as murder — a defendant might be eligible for release after 14 years. "It would be unconscionable to most Georgians to learn that you could murder a child and be released quicker than if you molested the child," McDade said. While one victim of a sex crime encouraged lawmakers to approve House Bill 1059, the relatives of several Georgians accused of sexual offenses cautioned lawmakers to make sure the tougher sentencing requirements did not end up locking up for years people who were wrongly accused. They gave examples of older teenagers who had sex with younger teens and ended up as convicted sex offenders. At least two registered sex offenders attended the hearing to testify about the bill. Roy Reid, 47, of Cobb County — a self-described "pedophile with a long history of deviant sexual behavior" — said that consistent treatment and monitoring by the state had helped him. He said he worried that buffer zones would have no effect on people who want to re-offend, and give the public a false sense of security. "What doesn't work are laws that make offenders constantly move, or worse yet, make them go underground or off law enforcement's radar screen," Reid said. "Those of us who are responding to treatment are not a threat to society; absconders are."
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