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Court to hear habeas corpus challenge to Prop 83
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On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court will hear the habeas corpus challenges of 4 parolees on whether Penal Code section 3003.5’s residency restrictions on sex offenders violate Constitutional ex post facto guarantees, was retroactively applied, and constitutes an unreasonable parole condition. The section codifies a provision in Proposition 83, better known as Jessica’s Law, and prohibits sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of schools or parks where children congregate. In effect, it makes most urban areas off limits to sex offenders paroled from prison.
Designed to protect children, Prop 83 was approved by 70 percent of voters and enacted on November 7, 2006. But from its inception, it has had detractors. The law has been criticized for its vagueness, effectiveness and legality. The ex-offenders bringing the suit, one of whom is from Santa Clara County, argue that they have been forced by the law’s restrictions to choose between prison and homelessness. Although transient sex offenders must still report to their parole officers each day, monitoring them will certainly become harder in practice.
It is difficult to argue with the politics behind the law. We all want our children safe and no where near an offender of any kind. Whether the California Supreme Court decides to uphold the law remains to be seen.
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