The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Despite the price tag, the Assembly voted 82-13 Tuesday evening to approve the bill. The vote sends the bill to the Senate. It would also need Gov. Jim Doyle's approval to become law. The bill would require a minimum 25-year sentence for those convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child, currently defined as sexual intercourse or sexual contact with a child under 13. Judges in Wisconsin now have broad authority to sentence first-time sex offenders of children, and sentences can range from no prison time to 40 years. The bill is known as "Jessica's law," named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, the Florida girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender earlier this year. Conservative supporters are pushing similar measures around the country in an effort to keep sex offenders behind bars so they cannot reoffend. Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said he wasn't shocked by the price tag, but by the estimate that an additional 9,000 sex offenders would be locked up in 25 years. He said the costs were significant, but nobody wants sex offenders convicted once to be living in their neighborhoods. "The best thing to do to protect these kids is to make sure after they violate a child, that they never get a second chance," Gard said. Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said Wisconsin should join three states that have approved such a bill. Thirteen others are considering similar plans, he said. "This is about protecting children and making certain these monsters do not reoffend," he said. "This is a nationwide crusade." Rep. Marlin Schneider noted that groups representing prosecutors and judges both oppose the bill, saying it takes away judges' discretion. He said it would lead to other costs on the criminal justice system because most of the sex offenders would go to trial. "A future Legislature - and some of you will be here - will have to pay the price," said Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids.
http://www.gazetteextra.com/lxr_sexoffbill110905.asp

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov05/369428.asp

GPS bill passes Assembly

Worst sex offenders would be monitored for life

By STACY FORSTER and STEVEN WALTERS sforster@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Nov. 9, 2005

Madison - The state's worst sex offenders would undergo lifetime monitoring by a global positioning system, under a bill passed Wednesday by the Assembly.

The bill (AB 591) passed 96-1 and now heads to the Senate for action.

Reps. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) and Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) said the measure would give the state Department of Corrections the ability to keep better tabs on the "worst of the worst" sex offenders, many of whom re-offend once they are released.

"Child sex offenders have been watching and preying on our children for years, and it's time we start watching them back," Kleefisch said.

In September, Gov. Jim Doyle ordered the Department of Corrections to use GPS monitoring on as many sex offenders as current resources will allow, and "if the Legislature is coming forward with additional resources, he's supportive of that," said Doyle spokesman Dan Leistikow.

If the bill becomes law, Wisconsin would join a dozen other states that have laws allowing for GPS monitoring, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under the Wisconsin bill, active GPS tracking technology would monitor a sex offender's whereabouts 24 hours a day. The measure would apply to those who are on probation or parole for committing a serious child sex offense or who are put on conditional release after being found not guilty because of mental disease. Also subject to the bill would be those who are found to be sexually violent and placed on supervised release under the state's Chapter 980 statute, which allows for post-prison civil commitment.

The bill says the law also would apply to those convicted under federal law or by another state. It would apply only to those who would be paroled in the future, Suder said; those already released would continue to be monitored under the existing system.

Cost questioned

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), the only member of the Assembly to vote against the bill, said its purpose was to grab headlines and not be part of a serious discussion about how to handle such criminals. Instead, the state would spend too much money on a system that has a "Big Brother" effect and hasn't been proved to work yet, Pocan said.

"At what point do you stop getting tough on crime and start getting smart on crime?" Pocan said, adding that he didn't think lawmakers had received sufficient public input.

The Department of Corrections put the cost of the bill at $4.8 million to $8.6 million a year. But Suder said it would cost far less - $1 million to $2 million in the first year to monitor an estimated 600 people a year. Those with sufficient income would be asked to shoulder some of the cost, he added