A June 29, 2009 article in the San Francisco Daily Journal reports that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is pulling back from what have proved to be impractical requirements created under the Jessica’s Law ballot measure to monitor the living situation of parolees with sex offense registration requirements. RBG partner Ernest Galvan is representing four parolees in a case currently awaiting argument before the California Supreme Court that challenges the residency restrictions imposed by Jessica’s Law, as harmful to public safety, and based on false assumptions regarding the risk factors for future sex crimes.
Galvan commented: “It’s certainly good for the department to move away from what was a clearly arbitrary rule, but I’m not sure how much of an improvement it is for public safety to replace it with a reasonable-person standard. I think the Legislature needs to come in and deal with the bigger problem, which is the way that Jessica’s Law creates homelessness and instability and makes our communities less safe in general.”