SENATE PASSES NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY LEGISLATION (November 2004)

This Act is now in the House of Representatives for action. Write and Urge your House Representatives to take action NOW!

History: (from the website of Senator Coleman) --
November 20th, 2004 - Washington, DC - Senator Coleman joined his colleagues in the United States Senate in successfully passing the "Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Database Act of 2004" (S.2154) last night, which would create a publicly-available national database of sex offenders. Coleman is an original cosponsor of the legislation. This bill is named after Dru Sjodin of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, who was tragically abducted last year. This legislation is now awaiting a vote in the House of Representatives.

“This bipartisan bill will close dangerous loopholes that have allowed sex offenders to prey on unsuspecting communities across state lines,” said Coleman. “This reform is a step in the right direction in helping prevent tragedies like Dru Sjodin’s abduction last year, a tragedy we will never forget.”

Under current law, each state maintains its own separate registries of sex offenders – and is limited to offenders who reside in that state. In too many cases, this has allowed sex offenders to prey on unsuspecting communities in nearby states, where their identities are not known.

This loophole was tragically evident last November, when Dru Sjodin was abducted from the parking lot of a shopping mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The man arrested for her abduction, Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., had served a 23-year sentence for rape in Minnesota, and had been released from prison despite being rated at “high risk” for reoffending. Rodriguez was left completely unsupervised, except for the requirement that he register as a sex offender in Minnesota. He chose to live in a Minnesota town close to the North Dakota border. But because there is no national sex offender registry, nearby North Dakota communities had no way of knowing that a dangerous sex offender was living nearby.

“Our bipartisan bill will close that dangerous loophole,” Coleman said. “It will direct the Justice Department to create a publicly accessible, national sex offender registry. Concerned citizens would be able to access the registry online and specify a search radius across state lines, thus obtaining a more meaningful report of nearby sex offenders.”

The bill would also require prisons to notify states attorneys whenever “high risk” offenders are about to be released, so that state attorney generals can consider petitioning for continued confinement of the offender. Additionally, the bill would require states to monitor “high-risk” offenders who are released after serving their full sentence, for a period of at least one year. Contact(s): Tom Steward

Link to Act: Dru's Law

Link to coleman.senate.gov

Dru's Law (Referred to House Committee after being Received from Senate)

Note:
There are 2 other versions of this bill.There are 3 versions of Bill Number S.2154 for the 108th Congress
1 . National Sex Offender Registry Act of 2004 (Introduced in Senate)[S.2154.IS]
2 . Dru's Law (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by Senate)[S.2154.ES]
3 . Dru's Law (Referred to House Committee after being Received from Senate)[S.2154.RFH]

The following is the Act:

S 2154 RFH
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2154
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 20, 2004
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT
To establish a National sex offender registration database, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Database Act of 2004' or `Dru's Law'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION. In this Act:
(1) CRIMINAL OFFENSE AGAINST A VICTIM WHO IS A MINOR- The term `criminal offense against a victim who is a minor' has the same meaning as in section 170101(a)(3) of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14071(a)(3)).

(2) MINIMALLY SUFFICIENT SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION PROGRAM-

The term `minimally sufficient sexual offender registration program' has the same meaning as in section 170102(a) of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14072(a)).
(3) SEXUALLY VIOLENT OFFENSE- The term `sexually violent offense' has the same meaning as in section 170101(a)(3) of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14071(a)(3)).
(4) SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATOR- The term `sexually violent predator' has the same meaning as in section 170102(a) of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14072(a)).

SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF THE NSOR DATABASE TO THE PUBLIC.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Attorney General shall-- (1) make publicly available in a registry (in this Act referred to as the `public registry') from information contained in the the National Sex Offender Registry, via the Internet, all information described in subsection (b); and
(2) allow for users of the public registry to determine which registered sex offenders are currently residing within a radius, as specified by the user of the public registry, of the location indicated by the user of the public registry.
(b) INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC REGISTRY- With respect to any person convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or a sexually violent offense, or any sexually violent predator, required to register with a minimally sufficient sexual offender registration program within a State, including a program established under section 170101 of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14017(b)), the public registry shall provide, to the extent available in the National Sex Offender Registry--
(1) the name and any known aliases of the person;
(2) the date of birth of the person;
(3) the current address of the person and any subsequent changes of that address;
(4) a physical description and current photograph of the person;
(5) the nature of and date of commission of the offense by the person;
(6) the date on which the person is released from prison, or placed on parole, supervised release, or probation; and
(7) any other information the Attorney General considers appropriate.

SEC. 4. RELEASE OF HIGH RISK INMATES.

(a) CIVIL COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Any State that provides for a civil commitment proceeding, or any equivalent proceeding, shall issue timely notice to the attorney general of that State of the impending release of any person incarcerated by the State who--
(A) is a sexually violent predator; or
(B) has been deemed by the State to be at high-risk for recommitting any sexually violent offense or criminal offense against a victim who is a minor
. (2) REVIEW- Upon receiving notice under paragraph (1), the State attorney general shall consider whether or not to institute a civil commitment proceeding, or any equivalent proceeding required under State law.
(b) MONITORING OF RELEASED PERSONS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Each State shall intensively monitor, for not less than 1 year, any person described under paragraph (2) who--
(A) has been unconditionally released from incarceration by the State; and
(B) has not been civilly committed pursuant to a civil commitment proceeding, or any equivalent proceeding under State law.
(2) APPLICABILITY- Paragraph (1) shall apply to--
(A) any sexually violent predator; or
(B) any person who has been deemed by the State to be at high-risk for recommitting any sexually violent offense or criminal offense against a victim who is a minor.
(c) COMPLIANCE-
(1) COMPLIANCE DATE- Each State shall have not more than 3 years from the date of enactment of this Act in which to implement the requirements of this section.
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS- A State that fails to implement the requirements of this section, shall not receive 25 percent of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State under section 20106(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13706(b)).
(3) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS- Any funds that are not allocated for failure to comply with this section shall be reallocated to States that comply with this section.

Passed the Senate November 19, 2004.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.

"The bill would also require prisons to notify states attorneys whenever “high risk” offenders are about to be released, so that state attorney generals can consider petitioning for continued confinement of the offender. Additionally, the bill would require states to monitor “high-risk” offenders who are released after serving their full sentence, for a period of at least one year."

I suppose these are good ideas, but I have to question if all this stuff has ever prevented any crime from being committed.

What are we supposed to do, be checking these registries all the time? And then what? A bad person can be anywhere as I used to tell my daughter. And it is sadly clear that they are everywhere, in every state and every size community. That slime in Florida was registered, but then, what do you know, he goes to visit his sister, and murders the sister's young neighbor. Will they be forced to list ever place they may go to and be restricted to going only to those places?

Even assuming Dru Sjodin had done research and had been empowered to know that evil scum lived nearby, would that have prevented the crime?

Are they going to execute him for her murder? Because THAT will prevent him from committing any more crimes. Locking these people up permanently, or executing them, seems much more effective to me that just compiling lists of offenders.

“As of December 1997, only 14 of the 50 states of the United States of America were participating in the national sex offender registry, according to White House officials. Although all states are keeping local registries as mandated by federal law, only a handful have joined in the national effort. The 14 states that so far had voluntarily taken part nationally to share data included Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Previous legislation passed on the federal level included Megan’s Law, which attempted to require states to notify the community when a child molester moves into the neighborhood. Unfortunately, only a minority of states, however, actually do mandate community notification; most only require registration by the perpetrator of his address with law enforcement, which is the basic requirement ordered by the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. The Jacob Wetterling Act was passed as part of the federal crime bill of August 1994. All states now have their own sex offender registries. A few do not have the register statewide but only county by county. These notable few, as of 1997, included Georgia, Nevada, and Nebraska.

Sex offenders are often repeat offenders.
State registries fail when the offender skips to another part of the country. A national register is therefore imperative.
There is a strong need to protect the public”

Link to Survivor Connections, Inc.

You are welcome, of course. Maybe now, after all these horrible acts, the most recent being dear little Jessica Lunsford, there will be a more swift vote on this law.

On another case: Three years later, Runnion trial to begin

While this man had no past record for crime, evidence did include pornographic pictures and websites featuring children found in his home. These type of perverts do not get rehabilitated. If they are not sentanced to life in prison without parole, or given the death sentance, they end up out in society again. That is exactly what happened in the Couey case. He was sentanced to 10 years for sex crimes, but was out on parole in two years!

History of Avila case: STANTON, California where Alejandro Avila, 27, kidnapped and killed 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, who was snatched in front of her home while she played with a friend. Her naked body was found a day later on the side of a road near Cleveland National Forest, -50 miles away from Stanton, by a passer-by. She had been sexually assaulted and then suffocated a few hours after her abduction.

Now on March 21, 2005 Opening statements finally begin in the trial of Alejandro Avila, more than two years and eight months after Samantha was kidnapped.

If this man does not get the death penalty, and is ever paroled, a National Registry might be able to provide, at least, some measure of keeping track of him and other sexual preditors.

First, obviously we both love children and feel strongly about this. Why are you calling my words dumb? I am not, and have not criticized your statements. In the essence of this, we are on the same side. So let's, at least, be courteous.

Secondly: Please interpret my statement as it was meant. I meant, we can all sit around and say "give them the death penalty" and all our sitting and saying that will not keep children safe. In reality, just wishing it so does not make it happen. Especially in the 16 states, plus D.C, where there is no death penalty. These people will simply go to one of the 16 to commit their crimes, and never worry about the death sentence. Here is the list:

Alaska
Hawaii
Kansas
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
North Dakota
New York Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin
ALSO, Dist. of Columbia

I don’t think that if someone lives in any of these states just knowing that in some states these creeps can be put to death, will help them feel better if the crime is against their own child and there is no death penalty in their state.

Your desires are understandable, but they will not help a parent who lives in one of the 16 states listed above. Thus we need some sort of National database and interaction between states to track and watch these criminals, and a way to help keep them in jail for their entire term of sentence. Not paroled after serving 2 years of a 10 year term, as Couey did.

Now, and especially on the heels of Jessica Lunsford’s father's plea just on television, and the petition he is having distributed, perhaps there will be more serious penalties enacted. But, in conjunction, a National Registry will also help.

Any measure, no matter how minor, to thwart any criminal who would harm a child, IMHO needs to be taken. Any measure! Not just shouts and rants to “kill them,” - but action from the people who truly want to help will have some effect.

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