Jessica's Law's no-live zone is bone of political contention
By Shane Goldmacher
July 13th, 2006
A November initiative to toughen penalties and place new restrictions on where past sex offenders can live essentially would make the city of San Francisco a sexual-predator-free zone, according to maps produced by the Senate Office of Research.
If passed, the measure would prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of any school or park where children play.
In San Francisco, one of the nation's most densely populated cities, that leaves only a few square blocks as inhabitable for registered sex offenders. The largest areas that would remain open to past predators would be the airport region, downtown's industrial zones and cemetery-dense Colma--none of which contain much, if any, residential housing.
"We're really clear: It is going to be harder to find a place to live, particularly in the most dense areas, of which San Francisco would be the most," said Sen. George Runner, R-Antelope Valley, who along with his wife, Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, spearheaded the campaign to put the measure on the ballot.
Runner, while challenging the specifics of the Senate map, says that there will be difficulties in predator placement, but they are worth the potential benefit.
The Senate Office of Research map is balony. They simply define every piece of lawn, and every publicly owned property in the city as a park. They have an axe to grind.
Hmmm. Isn't exposing yourself in public one of the things that can get you on the "sex offender" list? One day of arrests at the Frisco Gay Pride parade could depopulate the city.