Tag Felons’ Faces, Initiative Backers Say
Acting Secretary of State Tony Miller on Thursday approved the circulation of petitions for a November ballot initiative that would require violent felons to wear identification numbers implanted on their faces when they are freed from prison.
Norman J. Bedford of Healdsburg, the author of the measure, must submit 384,974 valid signatures of registered voters by July 22 to qualify the proposal for the fall ballot.
Other provisions of his measure would establish a 24-hour telephone number for citizens to obtain or provide information about identified offenders and would make it a misdemeanor to taunt or harass anyone who had a facial implant.
Bedford could not be reached Thursday for further information.
Ballot proposals considered extreme occasionally reach the stage of being cleared for petition circulation but rarely attract the large number of signatures required to place them on the ballot. In clearing a measure for signature gathering, the secretary of state collects a $200 filing fee from the proponent and obtains title and summary language from the attorney general, but takes no position on merits or constitutionality.
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