CRIME WATCH : Excess of Liberty

Richard Allen Davis, who has confessed to police that he kidnaped 12-year-old Polly Klaas from her home in Petaluma and later choked her to death, has an arrest record that covers 11 pages. Among the crimes for which he has been convicted are two felony kidnapings, one of them involving charges of rape and sodomy. Davis has spent 14 of the last 18 years in prison. He was on parole when Polly Klaas was murdered.

That a man with Davis’ record and predilections was allowed to be on the loose will be explained by some as an administrative oversight, by others as an unavoidable risk taken by a legal system in which the hope of rehabilitation for convicted criminals continues to guide sentencing and parole hearings. These are plausible explanations. They are also wholly and tragically beside the point. That Davis was at liberty--that other violent career criminals are routinely returned to society--is an outrage. How many more Polly Klaases must die, how many more parents and communities must grieve, before adequate steps are taken to stop such outrages?

The people of California, through the Legislature or initiative, can adopt tougher anti-crime laws, including life sentences for the worst repeat offenders. That’s easy. The hard part is getting voters to agree to pay for the things that go along with tougher laws: more police, more courtrooms and judges, more prisons and guards. Talk is cheap. Anger and grief are unproductive unless they energize change. Are Californians ready to pay the necessary costs to have a safer society?