Weekly News Update

February 17, 2009 |
Valor

Week of February 9, 2009
NYT’s: “California, Almost Broke, Nears Brink “
The New York Times reported earlier today that “the state of California — its deficits ballooning, its lawmakers intransigent and its governor apparently bereft of allies or influence — appears headed off the fiscal rails.”

Lawmakers have been trying to close the budget gap, since the fall and since then “the state has fallen into deeper financial straits, with more bad news coming daily from Sacramento. The state, nearly out of cash, has laid off scores of workers and put hundreds more on unpaid furloughs. It has stopped paying counties and issuing income tax refunds and halted thousands of infrastructure projects.”
LAPD Rape Kit Backlog Could Be Cleared by 2010
MSNBC reported last week that “the number of untested rape kits in Los Angeles Police Department’s evidence lockers is far fewer than previously calculated.” On Monday officials said that the backlog could be cleared by summer 2010 and that “the total of untested kits now stands at 4,423, opposed to the previous figure of nearly 7,000.”
Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said the pledge to eliminate the backlog is based on the assumption that staffing and funding levels remain unchanged.
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State to cut back housing aid for paroled sex offenders
By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times
The state will stop paying long-term motel and apartment rents for thousands of sex offenders across California under an order Monday from a top corrections official, who acknowledged the move likely will add to the rolls of sex offenders who become homeless to avoid the living restrictions under Jessica’s Law.
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TEMECULA: Council approves strict sex offender rules
Rules affect sex offenders moving into city, within city
Aaron Claverie reported last week that registered sex offenders “considering a move to Temecula soon will have a tougher time finding a place to live. The Temecula City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that makes it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to live within 2,000 feet of a park, school or day care center.”
Judge finds sex offender law unconstitutional
SACRAMENTO — In only the third such ruling in the nation, a Sacramento judge has found to be unconstitutional a statute that makes it a federal crime for someone to fail to register as a sex offender and relocate from one state to another.
Editorial: Jessica’s Law doesn’t have it right
LIKE TOO MANY voter-approved initiatives that weren’t very well thought out, Proposition 83, also known as Jessica’s Law, has had costly, unforeseen consequences.
The ballot measure, backed by 70 percent of voters, prohibits paroled sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, park where children regularly gather.
A major flaw of Prop. 83 is that it makes no distinction between pedophiles and those convicted of committing crimes against adults. Though it makes little sense to ban sex offenders who prey on grown people from areas frequented by kids.
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