This just in! Both LD 1157 and LD385 have been passed and are waiting for the Governor's signature.
The report says he is "leaning" towards signing them. Small steps.... but steps in the right direction. A last minute amendment was defended that would have allowed some towns with existing Residency Restricts to be grandfathered.
Legislature Makes Changes to State's Sex Offender RegistryBack
June 8, 2009 Reported By: A.J. Higgins
Two bills that will change policies regarding convicted sex offenders have been enacted by the Legislature and are being supported by the governor. Under one measure, certain offenders would be able to have their names removed from Maine's online Sex Offender Registry if they can prove that they have not committed any crimes since their initial conviction. Another provides a uniform policy for municipalities seeking to impose residency restrictions for sex offenders living near schools.
From Gov. John Baldacci's perspective, LD 1157 balances public safety with the concerns of convicted sex offenders who were swept retroactively onto Maine's online Sex Offender Registry. Baldacci says the onus to get off the registry will fall squarely on the offenders. "Not to wipe their slate clean, but force them to come back and have the burden of proof on them," he says.
Problems with the Sex Offender Registry -- an online site maintained by the state that provides pictures and residency details on Maine's sex offenders -- arose after the Legislature voted four years ago to include registration requirements for offenders who committed their crimes between 1982 and 1992. Many of those offenders claimed they had led law-abiding lives for 20 years and shouldn't be subject to retroactive registration.
Baldacci says LD 1157 should address the concerns of the Maine Supreme Court, which is hearing appeals from offenders swept up in the retroactive inclusion on the basis that the registry amounts to an additional punishment. Baldacci says the new change should eliminate the potential for the court to throw out the entire retroactive provision of the law.
"We have agreed to make those people who were on the prior list and got caught in the change of law still have to petition the public safety department and the state and give us the credentialing that would give us the sense that they're meeting the points of law, so that they wouldn't have to be on the list," Baldacci says.
Under the bill, offenders that were placed on the registry as a result of the retroactive law can petition the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety to have their names removed if they have committed no crimes since finishing their sentences.
In addition to that revision, Baldacci is leaning toward signing another bill on its way to his desk that will establish a standard for municipalities that want to pass residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders. That standard, the Legislature has decided, would require that a convicted sex offender live at least 750 feet from a school. Some cities and towns have established sex offender buffer zones ranging from 500 to 1,000 feet, or more.
State Sen. Jonathan Courtney, a Republican from Springvale, asked the Senate to approve an amendment to give two of his communities an exemption. "What it would do, it would have preserved the local ordinance in two of my communities, Waterboro and Lyman -- they went through this process, and have a 2,500 foot setback requirement. The state has superceded it, to 750 feet, which is totally unacceptable to my communities."
State Sen. Debra Plowman supported Courtney's amendment, partially because she says the state needs to take a different approach to dealing with sex offenders. "If we had a civil committment in the state of Maine, we could civilly commit these people and make sure that our children don't need to have to kept 2,500 feet from a predator. They'd be put somewhere where a panel or a judge decides if they're safe enough to be on the street. In the meantime, when the young girl in the park, or the schoolyard, is within 750 feet of someone who just can't resist, I don't think 750 feet is enough."
"If you want to give your children protection, tell them where these people live, show them where these people live, tell them not to be around these people, but for God's sake, let's not send them under bridges to live and so that we lose track of them entirely," said Sen. Stan Gerzovsky, a Brunswick Democrat, who led the oppostion that defeated Courtney's amendment, arguing that differing community standards would send offenders underground. "Let's keep them on probation where they belong, let's keep an eye on them."
Both sex offender bills are now awaiting the governor's signature.
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The report says he is "leaning" towards signing them. Small steps.... but steps in the right direction. A last minute amendment was defended that would have allowed some towns with existing Residency Restricts to be grandfathered.
Legislature Makes Changes to State's Sex Offender RegistryBack
June 8, 2009 Reported By: A.J. Higgins
Two bills that will change policies regarding convicted sex offenders have been enacted by the Legislature and are being supported by the governor. Under one measure, certain offenders would be able to have their names removed from Maine's online Sex Offender Registry if they can prove that they have not committed any crimes since their initial conviction. Another provides a uniform policy for municipalities seeking to impose residency restrictions for sex offenders living near schools.
From Gov. John Baldacci's perspective, LD 1157 balances public safety with the concerns of convicted sex offenders who were swept retroactively onto Maine's online Sex Offender Registry. Baldacci says the onus to get off the registry will fall squarely on the offenders. "Not to wipe their slate clean, but force them to come back and have the burden of proof on them," he says.
Problems with the Sex Offender Registry -- an online site maintained by the state that provides pictures and residency details on Maine's sex offenders -- arose after the Legislature voted four years ago to include registration requirements for offenders who committed their crimes between 1982 and 1992. Many of those offenders claimed they had led law-abiding lives for 20 years and shouldn't be subject to retroactive registration.
Baldacci says LD 1157 should address the concerns of the Maine Supreme Court, which is hearing appeals from offenders swept up in the retroactive inclusion on the basis that the registry amounts to an additional punishment. Baldacci says the new change should eliminate the potential for the court to throw out the entire retroactive provision of the law.
"We have agreed to make those people who were on the prior list and got caught in the change of law still have to petition the public safety department and the state and give us the credentialing that would give us the sense that they're meeting the points of law, so that they wouldn't have to be on the list," Baldacci says.
Under the bill, offenders that were placed on the registry as a result of the retroactive law can petition the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety to have their names removed if they have committed no crimes since finishing their sentences.
In addition to that revision, Baldacci is leaning toward signing another bill on its way to his desk that will establish a standard for municipalities that want to pass residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders. That standard, the Legislature has decided, would require that a convicted sex offender live at least 750 feet from a school. Some cities and towns have established sex offender buffer zones ranging from 500 to 1,000 feet, or more.
State Sen. Jonathan Courtney, a Republican from Springvale, asked the Senate to approve an amendment to give two of his communities an exemption. "What it would do, it would have preserved the local ordinance in two of my communities, Waterboro and Lyman -- they went through this process, and have a 2,500 foot setback requirement. The state has superceded it, to 750 feet, which is totally unacceptable to my communities."
State Sen. Debra Plowman supported Courtney's amendment, partially because she says the state needs to take a different approach to dealing with sex offenders. "If we had a civil committment in the state of Maine, we could civilly commit these people and make sure that our children don't need to have to kept 2,500 feet from a predator. They'd be put somewhere where a panel or a judge decides if they're safe enough to be on the street. In the meantime, when the young girl in the park, or the schoolyard, is within 750 feet of someone who just can't resist, I don't think 750 feet is enough."
"If you want to give your children protection, tell them where these people live, show them where these people live, tell them not to be around these people, but for God's sake, let's not send them under bridges to live and so that we lose track of them entirely," said Sen. Stan Gerzovsky, a Brunswick Democrat, who led the oppostion that defeated Courtney's amendment, arguing that differing community standards would send offenders underground. "Let's keep them on probation where they belong, let's keep an eye on them."
Both sex offender bills are now awaiting the governor's signature.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=210952460331&h=rASgs&u=d6hnt&ref=nf
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