Orange County Criminal Attorney Blog

After Orange County officially barred all registered sex offenders from entering county parks, county beaches, or other county recreation areas in April, district attorney Tony Rackauckas began to lobby the cities of Orange County to do the same. This process started a dialogue about whether toughening already tough laws is the best use of public resources, whether local governments can afford any further enforcement, and whether further enforcement is even necessary. Some registrants themselves have even stepped forward to speak out about treatment of registered sex offenders.

The Orange County Register recently offered an overview of California's different laws dealing with sex offenders, their critics, and their supporters. California has several laws that address registered sex offenders that passed in the wake of specific tragedies. These laws often bear the names of specific victims.

Megan's Law first passed in California in 1996 and requires that sex offender lists be available to the public. The law was amended in 2004 to make the information available online.

Jessica's Law, passed in California in 2006, prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks. It also requires lifetime GPS supervision of people on the registry.

Chelsea's Law, which originated in California and became law in 2010, provides for enhanced sentencing for certain criminal offenses when children are involved.

Although these laws have broad popular support, they have a considerable number of critics with a wide array of valid criticisms. The state's own Sex Offender Management Board, the agency charged with "decreas[ing] sexual victimization and increas[ing] community safety," complains that the system has been created piece by piece and lacks coordination. Laws tend to get passed in the wake of public outrage, with little inclination or opportunity for debate about a law's merits.

Critics further charge that the laws often apply a one-size-fits-all approach to a complex set of problems. The Register describes several cases that are unintended consequences of overzealous legislation. The most infamous of these cases involve children forced to register for life as sex offenders because of "sexting," sending images of themselves in states of undress to each other via cell phone. These people, as well as many other people who end up on the registry, do not pose so great a threat to public safety that they require lifetime monitoring, yet they occupy the same registry as serial molesters.