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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-124 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 RESOLUTION NO. 2006-124 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO IN SUPPORT OF THE SEXUAL PREDATOR PUNISHMENT AND CONTROL ACT OF 2006, KNOWN AS JESSICA'S LAW BE IS RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: WHEREAS, the State of California and the City of San Bernardino place a high priority on maintaining public safety through a highly skilled and trained law enforcement as well as laws that deter and punish criminal behavior; and WHEREAS, sex offenders have very high recidivism rates, and according to a 1998 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, sex offenders are the least likely to be cured and the most likely to reoffend and prey on the most innocent members of our society, and more than two-thirds of the victims of rape and sexual assault are under the age of 18 and sex offenders have a dramatically higher recidivism rate for their crimes than any other type of violent felon; and WHEREAS, child pornography exploits children and robs them of their innocence, and FBI studies have shown that pornography is very influential in the actions of sex offenders, and statistics show that 90% of the predators who molest children have had some type of involvement with pornography and predators often use child pornography to aid in their molestation; and WHEREAS, the universal use of the Internet has also ushered in an era of increased risk to our children by predators using this technology as a tool to lure children away from their homes and into dangerous situations, and to reflect society's disapproval of this type of activity, adequate penalties must be enacted to ensure predators cannot escape prosecution; and WHEREAS, California must also take additional steps to monitor sex offenders, to protect the public from them, and to provide adequate penalties for and safeguard against sex offenders, particularly those who prey on children, and existing laws that punish aggravated sexual assault, habitual sexual offenders, and child molesters must be 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2006-124 strengthened and improved, and existing laws that provide for the commitment and control of sexually violent predators must be strengthened and improved; and WHEREAS, additional resources are necessary to adequately monitor and supervise sexual predators and offenders, and it is vital that the lasting effects of the assault do not further victimize victims of sexual assault; and WHEREAS, Global Positioning System technology is a useful tool for monitoring sexual predators and other sex offenders and is a cost effective measure for parole supervision, and it is critical to have close supervision of this class of criminals to monitor these offenders and prevent them from committing other crimes; and WHEREAS, California is the only state, of the number of states that have enacted laws allowing involuntary civil commitments for persons identified as sexually violent predators, which does not provide for indeterminate commitments, and California automatically allows for a jury trial every two years irrespective of whether there is any evidence to suggest or prove that the committed person is no longer a sexually violent predator, and as such, this act allows California to protect the civil rights of those persons committed as a sexually violent predator while at the same time protect society and the system from unnecessary or frivolous jury trial actions where there is no competent evidence to suggest a change in the committed person. NOW, THEREFORE be it resolved that the City of San Bernardino support and urge the People of California to vote YES on the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act of 2006, known as "Jessica's Law". IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we, the doles) hereby adopt this resolution this _ day of May , 2006. 11/ III 11/ 11/ 1/1 2006-124 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Approved as to form: RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO IN SUPPORT OF THE SEXUAL PREDATOR PUNISHMENT AND CONTROL ACT OF 2006, KNOWN AS JESSICA'S LAW I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the Mayor joint and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino at a regular meeting thereof, held on the ~ day of May , 2006, by the following vote, to wit: AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT Council Members: ESTRADA x BAXTER x MC GINNlS x x DERRY KELLEY x JOHNSON x MC CAMMACK x ~~ b. U~~ Rac el G. Clark, City Clerk The foregoing resolution is hereby approved this :J.. ncL day of May ,2006 25 JAMES F. PENMAN 26 City Attorney ~ BY~~