Lots of bills reported out of committee
Posted on
April 14, 2007 by
Gideon
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The judiciary committee, in a flurry of activity before the deadline, reported quite a few bills out of committee. Here’s a list of all relevant criminal justice bills reported out of committee this session:
- HB 5503 An Act Concerning Residency Restrictions for Registered Sexual Offenders
- HB 6285 An Act Concerning The Age of a Child with Respect to Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
- HB 7085 An Act Concerning the SOL for Prosecution of Certain Sexual Assault Offenses Using DNA Evidence.
- HB 7234 An Act Concerning Victim Services.
- HB 7313 An Act Concerning Domestic Violence.
- HB 7335 An Act Concerning Persistent Offenders.
- HB 7365 An Act Concerning the Procedure in a Capital Felony Trial.
- HB 7391 An Act Concerning Preventive Detention.
- HB 7406 An Act Concerning Youthful Offenders…
- HB 7408 An Act Concerning the Risk Assessment Board…
- SB 0170 An Act Concerning Pardons.
- SB 0708 An Act Creating a Violent Offender Registry.
- SB 0838 An Act Requiring the DNA Testing of Certain Arrested Persons.
- SB 1269 An Act Concerning the Quality of Legal Representation of Children and Youth in Juvenile Matters.
- SB 1322 Student Loan Repayment Assistance Bill for Public Defenders and Prosecutors.
- SB 1457 An Act Concerning Consensual Sexual Activity Between Adolescents Close in Age.
- SB 1458 An Act Concerning Jessica’s Law.
- SB 1479 An Act Concerning Judicial Branch Openness.
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My thoughts on some of these, for whatever they’re worth:
NB 5503 - I’m opposed to this type of legislation generally, but specifically, this is poorly drafted. Two problems I’ll mention now. (1)Why does this residency restriction apply to registrants who were not convicted of offenses involving minors? (2)A practical problem I see as coming up (an argument we will probably have to make in the future): John Doe now/at the time of the enactment of the statute resides within 1000 feet of an elementary school. In 2008, he will be charged and convicted with a sex offense requiring registration. Will he be exempt from this restriction by subsection (b)? In other words, does (b) exempt those people who at the time of the enactment of the restriction live within 1000 feet of a school AND are currently required to register? Or can Mr. Doe claim exemption for future registration because he had an established residence within 1000 feet at the time of the enactment? Maybe I am being too literal, but I don’t think this is clear.
HB 7365 - LOVE IT! It’s about time.
SB 0708 - You know, I thought the idea behind the sex offender registry and the winning argument against its opponents was that sex offenders were of a special threat to our children and community. I guess, as a society, we’re willing to allow employers, landlords and members of our communities to treat those convicted of sex offenses as less than human. It’s okay for their neighbors to know their business, for their landlords to evict them and for their bosses to fire them, because we’re just protecting our children from these predators by disseminating the information. And apparently now we’ve slid down the slope far enough to believe “violent offenders” also qualify for this treatment. Awesome.
On 0708 - we all know how fluid parole’s definition of “violent offender” is; so how far before they take the stance that the statute doesn’t limit them to the listed offenses.
Edit: Umm, yeah, that made no sense. Sorry.