California To Allow Thousands Of Sex Offenders To ‘Opt-Out’ Of Register
Sean Adl-Tabatabai
YourNewsWire.com
October 8, 2017
Thousands of rapists, pedophiles and sex offenders will be offered the chance to “opt out” of the sex offenders register, thanks to new legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown signed legislation that, from Jan.1, will mean certain sex offenders can ask to be removed from the register so as not to damage their reputation.
Latimes.com reports: The measure was introduced at the request of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and other law enforcement officials who said the registry, which has grown to more than 105,000 names, is less useful to detectives investigating new sex crimes because it is so bulky.
“California’s sex offender registry is broken, which undermines public safety,” said Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced the bill. “SB 384 refocuses the sex offender registry on high-risk offenders and treats low-level offenders more fairly.”
The registry currently requires law enforcement officials to spend hours on paperwork for annual evaluations of every offender, including those who are low risk and have not committed a crime for decades, Wiener said.
Brown declined to comment Friday, but his office referred to a statement put out last month.
“SB 384 proposes thoughtful and balanced reforms that allow prosecutors and law enforcement to focus their resources on tracking sex offenders who pose a real risk to public safety, rather than burying officers in paperwork that has little public benefit,” said Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for the governor, last month.
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