Our organization supports the most severe sanctions—including capital punishment, which is the fourth of our seven criminal justice principles—as a response to the evil of pedophilia and rape, and over the past several decades there have been a series of sexual crimes in California that lend weight to serious sanctions.
An article from the San Francisco Chronicle by the president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation looks at sex offenders and suggests a response.
An excerpt.
“California has had no shortage of notorious criminals over the years. Often their crimes have exposed weaknesses in state and local law enforcement policy.
“The Onion Field murder, which involved the 1963 kidnapping of two Los Angeles police officers and the killing of one, led to changes in police procedures during traffic stops. The slaughter of seven people in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson helped marshal public support for the death penalty and inspired reforms in legal procedures.
“Several terrible crimes have involved sexual predators, notably Reginald Muldrew, the Pillowcase Rapist who committed about 200 sex crimes between 1976 and 1978, and the Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, who raped and murdered at least 10 young women from 1977 to 1978.
“These crimes encouraged California voters to adopt the Victims' Bill of Rights Initiative in 1982, which included major sentencing and procedural reforms. The shocking 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas by habitual criminal Richard Allen Davis galvanized support for California's "three strikes" sentencing law.
“The recent allegations that kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard had been held and sexually abused for 18 years in an Antioch neighborhood by habitual sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido now is raising questions about how California deals with these types of criminals.
“Sex offenders, particularly habitual rapists, child molesters and pedophiles, are different from most other criminals. While most criminals commit a wide variety of crimes, habitual sex offenders are often specialists who live unnoticed within law-abiding society.
“They generally have jobs. Some are married, have children and appear to live normal lives. Studies have shown this class of offender to be more intelligent and deceptive than other criminals. Habitual sex offenders plan their crimes, sometimes for months. Like the general population, most are white. Usually, they will continue to pursue their fantasies as long as they are free to do so....
“To protect the public from predatory sex offenders, the aggressive investigation and prosecution of sex crimes must continue. Over time, criminals who re-offend will receive the longer sentences recently enacted for habitual offenders. The worst of these may never be free to stalk another victim.
“Serious supervision of known offenders, free on parole, will require increased funding and a reorganization of parole agencies. Caseloads for parole officers monitoring sex offenders will have to be significantly reduced to allow officers more time to do their jobs. Full site searches of a sex offender's residence should become routine, as should unannounced visits.”
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.