I’ve worked hard over the past few years to push for tighter sentencing and monitoring of sex offenders in this state. Our laws definitely need reform.
But sometimes, it’s necessary to balance the need for tougher restrictions against the potential for unintended consequences of new legislation.
That’s my thinking with a new bill that’s being proposed in the Senate regarding sex offenders.
The bill would prohibit Level 3 sex offenders (those who pose the most risk of harm) from staying in homeless shelters in the Bay State. Its purpose it to reduce the likelihood that those offenders could pose a security risk to other people staying at the shelter – a growing problem these days as shelter populations increase in this poor economy.
I think the bill makes an interesting statement, but I have questions about its effects. If passed, where would these sex offenders go? If they have no place to live, would they end up living on the streets? Would that pose an even greater risk to the general public?
As one person mentioned in this Boston Globe story, if our state were to limit where sex offenders can live, that would likely increase the need for social services, which we’re not prepared to deliver at this time, in part due to fiscal difficulties.
I think there are better ways of dealing with this problem. One way is to pass a bill I have proposed that would prohibit sex offenders from listing a homeless shelter as their primary address. Under my bill, they would have to list a more reliable primary address so they can be tracked more accurately. That, along with better GPS monitoring of sex offenders, would give us a better idea of where these dangerous predators are lurking and it would allow us to track their whereabouts.
But on a more general level, I think we need to take a comprehensive look at the issue of sentencing and post-release monitoring of sex offenders to come up with a better plan for dealing with them. Right now, too many offenders are being released back into the community after serving prison sentences that are too short. They’re reentering the community without any place to live, without a job, and without anyone tracking what they’re up to. That’s not just a poor way to rehabilitate people; when you’re talking about letting our most dangerous sex offenders loose on the streets, it’s a recipe for disaster. We need better sentencing laws that keep dangerous criminals in jail for longer periods of time. And we need a post-release supervision program that prepares these felons to re-enter society on a productive and less dangerous level and screens them accurately for dangerousness so they don’t just end up back on the streets to reoffend.
What do you think? Do you think prohibiting sex offenders from living in homeless shelters is a good idea? Do you favor other approaches like better sentencing, monitoring and post-release supervision? Or do you think we need to do something else? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please post a comment below to join the discussion on this issue.
