Joining a nationwide chorus, the General Assembly passed harsh, costly and almost-certainly ineffective legislation to further punish sex offenders. Specifically, legislation enacted into law this session will subject certain sex offenders to lifetime active GPS monitoring. Proponents offered no information as to either the effectiveness or the ultimate fiscal cost of the measure. They did, however, cite the NBC show Dateline for support.
However, things could have been worse. Legislation authorizing the state to initiate civil commitment proceedings against sex offenders shortly before their release from prison, in order to allow for their continued, and potentially indefinite, incarceration, never made it out of committee. Earlier in the session, the bill’s sponsor and committee chair suggested passage was inevitable. The bill had met with strong opposition from many professional mental health organizations.
