Sex Offenders: Now What?
September 10th, 2007 by josh farleySome of you may have read our story in Saturday’s paper regarding changes a task force could recommend making to the state’s sex offender laws.
GPS monitoring? DNA sampling? A year in jail for probation violation?
Those are just some of the possibilities that could be contemplated by Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge and a team of criminal justice experts. They tapped by the governor to reshape sex offender laws — if necessary — in the wake of the kidnapping and killing Zinaida “Zina” Linnik, 12, on July 4 in Tacoma, allegedly at the hands of a convicted sex offender.
Gov. Chris Gregoire released results of Hauge’s committee findings
today. Based on their research and discussion, she is recommending
DNA samples be taken of all sex offenders, that level 1 sex
offenders possibly be added to a public registry, and that level 3
sex offenders should be re-evaluated for the possibility of a GPS
device to monitor them.
Next up: Hauge and Co. will be tasked with organizing the proposals, and the decision of a special legislative session to tackle it will have to be made. Only the governor can call such a session.
If you were governor, would you?
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September 10th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I would need more information, what is to be accomplished,how long will it take and what would it cost? Will this committee be able to make law. Are these suggestions workable. I thought we had a place on McNeil Island for sex offenders. What is happening there and how much are we spending now on programs that are not working?
September 13th, 2007 at 8:38 am
After Zina was killed you would think that someone would come to the conclusion phedophiles can not be treated.