Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a paroled sex offender in Florida.
Yesterday, the Democrat-controlled Colorado State House State Affairs Committee passed a bill that they have equated to Jessica’s Law. But, does it really do the same thing? The answer is no. The bill, H.B. 1260, was sponsored by Boulder liberal Rep. Mike Foote and was the Democrat-approved version. Republican state Rep. Libby Szabo also introduced her version of Jessica’s Law, H.B. 1264, which was killed in committee on a party line vote.
The key features of Jessica’s Law are the tough minimum sentencing requirements and lifetime probation for sexual predators. Foote’s bill offers a tiered system of sentencing, which drops mandatory sentencing down to as little as 10 years. From the bill: at least 10-16 years and up to a maximum of natural life for a class 4 felony; at least 18-32 years and up to a maximum of natural life for a class 3 felony; and at least 24-48 years and up to a maximum of natural life for a class 2 felony.
H.B. 1260 also lacks sex offender registration and reporting requirements, compared to H.B. 1264, which requires that if paroled, offenders must remain on parole for the remainder of their natural life.
Colorado is just one of a handful of states that does not have a Jessica’s Law on the books. The rejection of such a law last year landed liberal Speaker Mark Ferrandino in hot water with Bill O’Reilly. “Jessica’s Law” is named after Jessica Lunsford, a young girl from Florida who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a paroled sexual offender.
The issue is that Jessica’s Law-type laws not only act as punishment once crimes have been committed, but also as deterrents to would-be predators. Passing a Jessica’s Law-in-name-only leaves Coloradans with a false sense of security when the truth is that our law does not have the same impact as the surrounding states. This is dangerous.
We just don’t understand why Democrats wouldn’t want the absolute highest level of protections available for children. Why pass such a watered down bill when a perfectly acceptable alternative was available? The reason? Democrats put politics in front of Colorado’s kids safety. This is really dangerous.
The editorial above misrepresents HB-1260, Rep. Mike Foote's mandatory sentencing bill. I am the chairman of Colorado Victims for Justice and was one of the witnesses in favor of the bill. Every Victims for Justice member is a crime victim or close family member. Three weeks before the hearing, we met with Mike Foote and asked him some tough questions. We became convinced that he had carefully researched the statutes in the Jessica's Law states and crafted a bill that would target the most heinous sexual crimes with appropriate penalties. Every member of Victims for Justice voted to support HB-1260.
In the hearing referenced above, two DAs testified in favor of HB-1260, I testified that our group was unanimous in its support, then three witnesses (two from Victims for Justice) described horrific cases of child rape. Opponents of the bill had three witnesses who thought Mike Foote's penalties were too harsh. One of them said, "Society is maybe too protective of children."
The editorial above implies the bill passed on a party-line vote — the truth is it passed the committee 11-0 — every Republican and Democrat!
It is not true that "Foote's bill . . . drops mandatory sentencing down to as little as 10 years." Current Colorado law does not require prison time for a class 4 felony, including class 4 child rape. For the first time, Foote's bill makes mandatory 10 to 16 years to life in prison for class 4. For more egregious child rape cases, the penalties go up to a maximum of 48 years to life. When and if the offender gets out, Colorado law already requires sex offender registration, reporting, and supervision.
No state has simply copied Jessica's Law from Florida; most states have adopted elements of it. Only 23 states require 25 years and an ankle monitor for a first sexual offense. The other 27 states have declined 25 plus ankle monitor because a first-time sexual offense can include lesser offenses, i.e. fondling another person who has their clothes on or an 18 year old having sex with a 16 year old.
Mike Foote's HB-1260 does not solve every problem in our criminal justice system, but it carefully targets and solves one problem.
Offenders' rights groups in Colorado are well funded, well organized, and entrenched. If advocates for Jessica's Law fail to support HB-1260, lawmakers will only hear from the other side, the bill will fail, and judges will still be allowed to sentence child rapists to probation and supervision instead of prison.
they shouldnt get off scott free if there is no proof. like brong in a fuckin a profiler and talk to the person claiming theyve been sexually harrassed and the proof is in their eyes. they are scared, and the person that sexually harrassed them is still out there and could do ot again. see what im saying?
i think there should be something in there that whether there is proof or not that someone was sexually harrassed, they still have emotional distress, so that person should still serve some kind of time.
We were very much in favor of 25 to life but so many folks are worried that this law doesn't differentiate between low level sex offenders and those who have moved on to intrusion and rape. We are going the direction of tougher sentencing and feeding it to the committees by the spoonful so they can digest it. It's better to make changes to the bill and modify it then to keep feeding the same food which was already spit out.
Upset Bill O'Reilley huh? Who doesn't. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a25_1214642536
ALSO KNOWN as Colorado's Catch and Release program for Sexual predators –
No matter which side of the political train track you stand on, HB 1260 is not tough enough. Frankly, deterrent does not work for these sexual predators, and punishment after the fact is the only unsatisfying solution offered.
Monitoring for life is a cost we should not have to pay. Death penalty for 1st offense? Yes. Lobotomy and warehousing is better than catch and release with life time monitoring.