Jessica's Law
Jessica's Law | |
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Florida State Legislature | |
Full name | An act relating to sexual predators and sexual offenders; providing a popular name; amending s. 775.21, F.S.; revising criteria for sexual predator designation, extending period for petition to remove sexual predator designation; creating s. 775.235, F.S.; prohibiting the harboring of a sexual predator or sexual offender; providing criminal penalties; amending s. 921.141, F.S.; creating an aggravating circumstance pertaining to sexual predators for purposes of imposing the death penalty; amending s. 947.1405, F.S.; requiring sexual offenders and sexual predators on conditional release to be placed on electronic monitoring; creating s. 947.1406, F.S.; providing requirements for electronic monitoring of sexual offenders and sexual predators on conditional release; amending s. 948.30, F.S.; requiring sexual offenders and sexual predators on community control or probation to be placed on electronic monitoring; amending s. 948.11, F.S.; providing requirements for electronic monitoring of sexual offenders and sexual predators on community control or probation; providing an effective date. |
Introduced | April 1, 2005 |
House voted | April 22, 2005 (115-0) |
Senate voted | April 21, 2005 (40-0) |
Signed into law | May 2, 2005 |
Sponsor(s) | Criminal Justice Committee |
Governor | Jeb Bush |
Code | Florida Statutes |
Bill | HB 1887 |
Website | Florida House website |
Status: Current legislation |
This article is part of a series on the |
Sex offender registries in the United States |
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Jessica's Law is the informal name given to a 2005 Florida law, as well as laws in several other states, designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend which includes a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring when the victim is less than 12 years old. A version of Jessica's Law, known as the Jessica Lunsford Act, was introduced at the federal level in 2005 but was never enacted into law by Congress.
The name is also used by the media to designate all legislation and potential legislation in other states modeled after the
The law is named after
Jessica Lunsford Act
The Jessica Lunsford Act (H.R. 1505 of the
Bill objectives
The bill, if passed, would have greatly reduced federal grant money under the
- Sex offenders would have been required to wear Global Positioning System devices on their ankles for five years following their release from prison, or for life for those deemed sexual predators, to better enable law enforcement personnel to track their whereabouts. The costs of tracking and monitoring offenders would have been absorbed by each State.
- States would have been required to mail sex offender registration forms at least twice per year, at random times, to verify registrants' addresses. Any registrants who did not respond within 10 days would have to be considered non-compliant.
The bill was introduced by U.S.
Impact on offender's family members
Advocates for convicted sex offenders claim that the civil rights of convicted persons and their non-offending family members is forever affected, long after the punishment has ended. Internet publication of sex offenders' home addresses continues to be upheld by the court in the name of public safety, although a series of vigilante-type murders in Maine in April 2006 have brought new concerns of misuse of the registry and for the safety of non-offending family members by private parties. Missouri civil rights attorney Arthur Benson currently awaits a decision from the
See also
- California Proposition 83 (2006)
- Penile plethysmograph
- Megan's Law
- Sarah's Law
- Clare's Law
References
- ^ "FL Statute 800.04". FL legislation.
- ^ "FL Statute 947.1405". FL legislation.
- ^ "FL Statute 794.011 2(B)". FL Legislation.
- ^ Supreme Court Home Page
- Arthur A. Benson II. Jane Doe I, et al. v. Thomas Phillips et al. (Case No. SC86573). May 2006.
- Carl Jones. "Porn Law Goes Too Far". Daily Business Review. April 10, 2006.
- Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. "Groups Propose Tier System For Sex Registry". May 2006.
- Rebecca Van Drunen. Confederation College. "Outcast Society: A Closer Look at North American Sexual Offenders in the Twenty-First Century". May 5, 2006.
- Sharon Wilson. "Sex Offenders: The Other Side". Orlando Sentinel. 23 October 2005.
External links
- Full text of the bill: [1][permanent dead link]
- Florida House Bill 1877 The text of the enrolled version of Jessica's Law passed in Florida.
- Jessie's Dad
- Symons, Michael (2014-06-02). "New Jersey, after 9 years, adopts Jessica Lunsford Act". Asbury Park Press.