JESSICA'S LAW - Prop 83
Democrat Leader Mark Leno of the Public Safety Committee has a conflict between protecting our children or making sure common sense laws like AB 231 (Jessica's Law) is defeated. His alternative bill AB 50 initially stated that is was OK to posses up to 100 items of child porn before triggering penalties. Not obvious to the casual observer is that a DVD is considered an "Item." As we all know a DVD can hold thousands of pornographic images each one representing a crime in and of itself. According to Mark Leno and my opponent Karen Bass this is OK. His bill would not have instituted a statewide GPS tracking system for all molesters. And it only slightly increased prison time for felons.
The Democrat majority said AB 50 was the best protection for our children we could afford. They said it was the best bill we could get out of the legislature. They said it was a step in the right direction. What they didn't say was that AB 50 is a painfully small step in the right direction that came about only because of the mounting pressure of 400,000 signatures on a much tougher Jessica's Law Initiative sponsored by assemblywoman Sharon Runner and her husband Sen. George Runner. What they didn't say was that AB 50’s true purpose is to take the steam out of the Jessica’s Law Initiative. What they didn’t express was their desire to keep Jessica’s Law off the November ballot, or, once qualified, to bolster the campaign arguments against it.