FLASHREPORT

ASSEMBLY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: LENO LEADS A PRO-CRIMINAL MAJORITY

An exclusive column for the FlashReport penned by Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange). Spitzer is a member of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

[Publisher's Note:  As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, I am pleased to present this column from Republican Assemblyman Todd Spitzer.]

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The usual anti-public safety, pro-criminal legislators of the Assembly introduced and voted for AB 50, authored by the ultra-liberal Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), as a false front to purportedly strengthen sex offender laws in California.  On Thursday, Republicans, myself included, abstained from voting on the bill, ensuring it would not pass off the Floor (its original version included some general fund dollars tagging it as a 2/3s vote bill.)

Republicans voting against public safety! Confused?  To put it simply, AB 50 is the Democrat response to Jessica’s Law, our initiative currently circulating for signatures, which is a tough and comprehensive no nonsense set of laws designed to really protect our children from violent sex offenders.

The provisions included in Jessica’s Law are also part of two identical bills attempting to make their way through the legislative process.  Not surprisingly, AB 231, led by Sharon Runner (her husband, Senator George Runner, is carrying the Senate Version),  died in the Assembly Public Safety, where Mark Leno,  Loni Hancock, Jackie Goldberg and Mervyn Dymally had voted against the bill.  Why? Because it would actually protect children against sexual predators.

But the Democrats are nervous.  They know that there is widespread public support for Jessica’s Law.  So what have they done?  They’ve introduced their own, much weaker legislation in the form of AB 50, authored by the same Mark Leno who voted against Jessica’s Law when it came before him in committee.  His bill, for example, would only make a felony the possession of more than 100 pieces of child pornography.  Less than 100 would still remain only a misdemeanor. (He has now amended that provision to 25 pieces under pressure from some of his caucus members, who obviously have either not actually seen any of this filth to understand that there is no legal excuse or legitimate purpose for possessing just one piece of this exploitive material OR they are still in their usual mode of protecting child molesters and abusers).  His bill does not address the issue of Sexually Violent Predators—those who have committed predatory sex acts against two or more victims irrespective of the repeated or systematic exploitation of one victim over a period of years.  Jessica’s Law recognizes that one victim is enough under the theory that a SVP who has been diagnosed with an uncontrollable urge to sexually exploit should not be released back to the streets and be “required” to exploit again against a new victim in order to be deemed a SVP.

Sadly, this is nothing new.  Democrats have a consistent record of killing substantive bills in the Public Safety Committee, putting the rights of career criminals over those of law-abiding citizens, especially children.  Bills attempting to deny conjugal visits to inmates who have committed violent felonies, deny early release credits to inmates who have committed a violent sex offense, and to make the use of hard drugs in the presence of a child classified as felony child abuse all stalled in committee due to Democrat opposition by the same members who have opposed Jessica’s Law.

As part of their overall ‘soft on crime’ platform, Democrats have authored bills to provide convicts with pamphlets entitled, “A Guide to Inmate Voting” and “Child Support Information for the Parent in Jail or Prison”.  Encouraging convicts to vote and supplying them with a state sanctioned guide teaching them how to attain child support reduction orders, is part of the daily assault.  Other bills have attempted to give welfare benefits to drug addicts, reduce the punishment for cocaine possession with intent to sell, and release parolees from parole oversight if they have been on parole for more than one continuous year without an incident when parole is normally three to five years.

The last time I checked, legislators work for the people; people who have voiced their overwhelming support for stricter laws against sex offenders.  So why does it take 400,000 signatures and millions of dollars for Jessica’s Law to get liberals to support public safety legislation in California?  Why does it take the threat of an initiative to get them to come to the table? 

Republicans obviously would rather work through the legislative process.  In fact, our own Republican analysis had a “support” position on AB 50 at its first committee. That was even before Mark Leno agreed to add in felony provisions for child pornography, additional funding for GPS tracking and attempted to rewrite a section on Internet luring to make it stronger.  But when a weak bill remains unacceptably weak even through amendments and compromise, it does not mean that we will not continue to fight for stronger provisions and support an initiative process to achieve what the Democrats will not provide for children by way of comprehensive legislation. 

Make no mistake, compromise in no way leads to complacency on our parts.  While we are willing to work together, we never stop working to get tougher laws passed.

After years and years and bill after bill of Republican public safety bills being systematically relegated to the round file, Assembly Republicans have drawn a line in the sand.  We refuse to pull the wool over the public’s eyes with weak legislation watered down to protect criminals under the premise that something is better than nothing.

With Jessica’s Law near qualification, I am proud that we are not “compromising” our kids.

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You can write to Assemblyman Spitzer, via the FR, here.

ASSEMBLYMAN SPITZER'S BIOGRAPHY
Assemblymember Todd Spitzer was elected to the State Legislature in 2002 to represent the 71st Assembly District. He currently serves as a member of the committees on Public Safety and Human Services and on the leadership team of Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

As part of his commitment to public safety, Assemblymember Spitzer was a leading force behind Proposition 69, the DNA Fingerprint Initiative, and the defeat of Proposition 66, which would have significantly weakened California’s 3 Strikes Law. For his efforts, Assemblymember Spitzer was named the 2005 “Legislator of the Year” by Crime Victims United. In September 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assemblymember Spitzer’s landmark legislation putting Megan’s Law on the Internet. For his work on this measure, the California Sexual Assault Investigators named Spitzer their Legislator of the Year. Additionally, Assemblymember Spitzer serves as an Honorary Board Member to the Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau.

In 2003, Assemblymember Spitzer was the recipient of the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America’s Visionary Award, which honors a person who exemplifies the attributes of the Scout Oath, the Law and has demonstrated leadership and philanthropy in the Hispanic and Latino communities of Orange County.

Prior to his election to the State Assembly, Assemblymember Spitzer served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors beginning with his election in November of 1996 and was re-elected in March of 2000. Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Assemblymember Spitzer was an elected Trustee of the Brea-Olinda Unified School District from 1992-1996. From 1990-1996, he served as a Deputy District Attorney in the Orange County District Attorney's Office, receiving the Outstanding Prosecutor Award in 1992. Before serving as a Deputy District Attorney, Assemblymember Spitzer taught English at Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles.

Assemblymember Spitzer served, for a decade, as a Reserve Police Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Division. In 1999, he was named the Reserve Officer of the Year by both the Division and the Central Bureau.

Assemblymember Spitzer earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, a Master’s in Public Policy from Cal Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from UC Hastings. He, his wife Jamie, and son Justin, make their home in Orange.