► Sex Offender Reform - Sen. Brown is widely known as the state's leading advocate for reforming the sex offender management system in Massachusetts. He has sponsored a number of bills, including the Sex Offender Omnibus Bill which was a comprehensive reform package that addresses numerous discrepancies in the system. Since that bill was introduced in 2005, several elements have become law separately.
I would need to do some extra research into this, but I doubt this omnibus bill makes any sex offender laws fairer to sex offenders. Strike one.
► Repealing the Statue of Limitations for Sexual Abuse - Sen. Brown proposes repealing the statute of limitations on prosecuting perpetrators of sexual abuse. Currently, these crimes can only be prosecuted within a defined timetable, robbing many victims of an opportunity to seek justice through the criminal system. It often takes years for victims to come forward and speak with authorities. While it is difficult to pursue a case decades after an incident occurs, these victims should have access to the full judicial process. The decision should be left with prosecutors as to whether enough evidence exists to warrant criminal charges. Sexual offenders should not escape justice simply because an arbitrary number of years have passed.
While should you repeal statute of limitations for sex abuse cases? Why not all cases? You might say that victims of sex abuse cases often repress the memories of the abuse and may not remember it until after the statute has run out. This isn't the case, though. The statute runs out "3 years from the act, 3 years from age 18 [of the victim], or 3 years from the time the victim discovered or reasonably should have discovered that an emotional or psychological injury or condition was caused the act." Strike 2.
► Closing the Youthful Offender Loophole – Currently many offenders under age 18 slip through the cracks of the sex offender registration system. Judges currently have the discretion to decide whether or not an offender must register. Too often judges let offenders avoid the Sex Offender Registry Board even when they are found guilty of serious sexual offenses. Sen. Brown filed legislation to require all offenders convicted of qualifying sexual offenses to register with the Sex Offender Registry Board. This legislation was prominently featured in a Fox 25 News investigative report.
When you base registration just on the crime, you risk registering the wrong people. If you are 16 and have sex with your 15 year old girlfriend, you have committed rape (yes, statutory rape, but it's still rape). I would assume that rape would be a "qualifying sexual offense," as Brown calls it. Sorry, buddy, you are now a registered sex offender for the reset of your life because you did something that so many people your age do every day. Strike 3.
The rest of his published viewed on criminal justice issues are as follows...
►Jessica’s Bill – Sen. Brown led the effort in the Senate for passage of Jessica's Law (legislation to strengthen sex offender laws, named for Jessica Lunsford, a child who was raped and murdered in FL). A watered down version of Jessica’s Law passed in July 2008, which is a step in the right direction but there is still more work to do to protect our children from predators.
►Haleigh’s Bill – This legislation protects victims from those who have been charged with their abuse or neglect. Sen. Brown filed “Haleigh’s Bill” in response to the tragedy of the Haleigh Poutre case in Westfield in 2005. Haleigh had been hospitalized as the result of alleged abuse at the hands of her adoptive mother and stepfather. While on life support, Haleigh’s stepfather attempted to obtain guardianship of his stepdaughter even though he was suspected of the abuse. This bill prohibits an individual from being appointed a guardian or medical proxy if they have been charged with assault and battery, or neglect of the incapacitated. Sen. Brown was successful in applying Haleigh’s Bill to restrict guardianship through an amendment to the Child Protection Bill of 2008. He filed An Act Relative to Health Care Proxies for the 2009-2010 Legislative Session to apply those same restrictions to health care proxies.
►Strengthening Public Safety – Sen. Brown remains committed to improving all aspects of public safety. For the current session he’s filed bills to reform the Commonwealth’s Criminal Offender Register Information System (CORI) and study the effectiveness of a drug dealer registry for the state. He also filed bill to increase penalties for possessing marijuana in a vehicles so that it is applied like an open container law for alcohol, and make sure that any illegal alien sex offenders are accurately reported to federal authorities.
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