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The national media won't tell you, but in Miami right now, a man named John Couey is on trial for brutally killing a 9-year-old girl named Jessica Lunsford. Couey, a convicted sex offender, kidnapped Jessica out of her modest Florida home, brought her to a trailer, sexually abused her, and then buried her alive. When authorities found her body, she was clutching a stuffed dolphin. Because of that heinous act, the state of Florida passed "Jessica's Law," which mandates that a first-time conviction for felony sexual battery on a child will result in a 25-years-to-life prison sentence. No plea bargain,...

Who was this 9-year-old girl whose death led to significant legal changes in Florida and nationwide? Before Feb. 24, 2005, before she was taken from her room in her home in the dark, before she was kept and raped and buried alive in black plastic trash bags, before her name and her face conjured a crime and a law and a cause, she was just Jessie. Jessica Marie Lunsford was born Oct. 6, 1995, at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, N.C. Her grandmother, Ruth Lunsford, said she wasn’t “red or wrinkled or nothing like that,” and her grandfather, Archie Lunsford,...

SYLMAR - Concerned that their community has become a dumping ground for sex offenders, residents Thursday applauded a proposed law that would evenly distribute the state's most despised parolees across Assembly districts. Stating that 124 registered sex offenders live in Sylmar and just six reside in Beverly Hills, Assemblyman Richard Alarcón, D-San Fernando, said it is unfair that some communities - often in lower-income areas - shoulder more responsibility than others. "If it was equal up and down the state, I guess Sylmar would have to accept their fair share," he said. "But this is not equal. This is not...

The state's new attorney general Tuesday argued in court papers that any of the state's tens of thousands of registered sex offenders who change residences should be prohibited from living near a school or park. Attorney General Jerry Brown's filing in federal court stuck with his predecessor's interpretation of Prop. 83, the sweeping sex-crimes initiative approved by voters Nov. 7. But Brown's position continues the legal confusion about a major piece of the initiative named "Jessica's Law" after a slain Florida girl. Gov. Schwarzenegger and other supporters of the law have said the provision banning sex offenders from living within...

Proposition 83, approved by 71% of voters, requires felony registered sex offenders to be tracked for the rest of their lives with Global Positioning System devices. It also prohibits all registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park. Prison terms and parole periods also are lengthened. Among the many questions: Who will pay for the GPS devices, estimated to cost up to $10 a day per device, plus staffing and computer costs? Another major question: Do the laws apply retroactively? If so, every one of the state's 90,000 registered sex offenders — including 3,453 in...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should convene a statewide summit to help decide what to do with sexually violent predators who are shunned by communities after their release from state mental hospitals, a panel appointed by the governor said Friday. The High Risk Sex Offender and Sexually Violent Predator Task Force agreed with the administration that the League of Cities and the California State Association of Counties should join law enforcement in finding a solution. Panel members said that after consulting with top administration officials, they decided not to recommend options like state-sponsored housing for high risk sex offenders. Schwarzenegger spokesman...

Judge to rule on new interpretation of Prop. 83 -- SAN FRANCISCO -- The state abruptly changed its position today on the meaning of a voter-approved law that restricts where sex criminals may live, telling a federal judge that the law would bar any of California's more than 90,000 registered sex offenders from moving to a home within 2,000 feet of a park or school. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said he felt "a little bit ambushed'' by the shift by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who had stated in writing less than two weeks ago that Proposition 83 would not...

SACRAMENTO - County prosecutors and state lawyers further narrowed their interpretation of a voter-approved crackdown on sexual offenders Friday, saying the initiative's lifetime restrictions don't apply to criminals who are currently on parole. Proposition 83, overwhelmingly approved by voters last week, applies only to offenders who are released from prison in the future, the lawyers said in fending off two attempts to temporarily block portions of the new law. The sweeping measure known as Jessica's Law passed with 70 percent support in last week's election. It bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park,...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge on Wednesday blocked enforcement of key provisions of a ballot measure designed to crack down on sex offenders, ruling the law was unconstitutional just a day after voters overwhelmingly approved it. The so-called Jessica's Law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, effectively banning parolees from many California communities. It also requires lifetime satellite tracking for some paroled sex criminals upon their release from prison. More than 70 percent of voters approved the initiative Tuesday. Hours later, an unidentified sex offender filed the lawsuit, arguing that the...

Breaking now on Roger's radio show in San Diego, Federal Judge Susan Illston has issued a temporary restraining order against Jessica's Law, Prop 83. Lawsuit brought in SF by a "John Doe" sex offender claiming the law is retroactive. The order applies in SF, Alameda, Marin and Sonoma. A hearing will be held on Nov 27. The plaintiff's lawyer is Dennis Riordan.

California news radio reports that Jessica's Law, just passed overnight by the voters, was already been ruled unconstitutional pending appeal. It was unclear from the report which court made the ruling (I believe the ACLU promptly filed suit after last night's election) and the court reportedly ruled that the law is unconstitutional because it unfairly seeks to punish people.

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

Yes on 85 PARENTS’ RIGHT TO KNOW & CHILD PROTECTION INITIATIVE 1703 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101 // Toll-free (866) 828-8355 // email: Janet@ParentsRight2Know.org NEWS RELEASE October 23, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Albin Rhomberg at (866) 828-8355 Sponsors of Jessica’s Law urge Californians to vote yes on Proposition 85, too 1.2 million California households get phone calls asking: “Vote yes on 83 and 85” The authors of Jessica’s Law are urging those who support strengthening laws against child predators in California to vote yes on a companion ballot measure – Proposition 85, the Parents’ Right to Know &...

Everyone wants to protect potential victims of rape and child molestation, and a package of recently enacted laws helps move California in that direction. It provides for: Longer sentences and parole terms for convicted offenders. Scientific risk assessment of all sex offenders prior to release from prison, leading to differential post-release supervision with more attention to the most dangerous individuals, including GPS monitoring of high risk parolees. Prohibiting registered sex offenders from loitering around schools and other places where vulnerable populations congregate. Risk-level information on the Megan's Law Web site. The creation of school-based education programs addressing child personal safety....

Proposition 83, or "Jessica's Law," covers 29 pages stuffed with stiffer punishment, longer parole terms and tighter monitoring for future sex criminals. But the passage that raises the thickest skepticism -- and the part that some legal scholars call ripe for attack -- runs just a few dozen words. Anyone required to register as a sex offender, it says, could not live "within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or park where children regularly gather." To legal scholars and critics, including some sex-crime detectives and prosecutors, those words present serious concerns. Among them: • Whether Prop. 83 would...

Our view: Prop. 83 based on fear, not fact about sex offenders Protecting children from sexual predators is a good idea, and that's the intent of Proposition 83, or Jessica's Law. But beneath the emotionally charged rhetoric, Prop. 83 is a prime example of why Californians should reject unwise initiatives and instead focus our efforts on passing thoughtful, effective laws. Prop. 83 is too vague, redundant, costly and ineffective. Prop. 83 would widen the protective circle we draw around our children, prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks. Pushing sex offenders farther away from...

In the 1 ½ years since the kidnap, rape and slaying of Florida 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, almost 20 states have passed laws in her name toughening penalties on sex offenders. On Nov. 7, California voters will have their say. Prop. 83, dubbed Jessica's Law by supporters, proposes the toughest sex-offender rules in the country. It would go well beyond the first Jessica's Law passed by Florida lawmakers in the months after authorities say sex offender John Evander Couey killed Lunsford in March 2005. Couey is scheduled to stand trial in Miami in February. He has pleaded not guilty. All signs...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed a package of bills that will increase prison terms for many sex offenders and bar them from loitering near schools and parks once released. The measures, signed just seven weeks before voters face a ballot initiative containing many similar provisions, also require sex offenders considered ''high risk" by authorities to wear electronic tracking devices while on parole. Backers said the new laws give California the nation's toughest restrictions on sex offenders, a group of convicts targeted in a growing national crackdown spawned by a series of high-profile crimes against children. Under one of...

SACRAMENTO - A new statewide poll released today shows that voters are more than willing to make life tougher for sex offenders, smokers and oil company executives. More than three-fourths of voters -- 76 percent to 11 percent -- support Proposition 83, or Jessica's Law, according to Field Poll surveys on five of the 13 measures on the November ballot. The measure would lengthen sentences for sex offenders and require lifetime global positioning system monitoring "It would be hard to beat back," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "I don't see a big 'no' side that would need...

California voters will decide in November if sex offenders should stay in prison longer, live farther from schools or parks and wear a tracking device that will monitor them for life. The latest initiative that focuses on the state's sex offenders is Proposition 83 or "Jessica's Law." It's named for 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford of Florida, who was kidnapped from her bedroom Feb. 23, 2005, and allegedly molested and killed by sex offender John Evander Couey. Under Proposition 83: Anyone convicted of a felony sex offense that requires them to register as a sex offender must wear a global positioning...