‘One-Strike’ Bill for Sex Crimes Stirs Debate : Legislation: Proponents say measure is needed to keep rapists and child molesters from becoming repeat offenders. Opponents say it is too broad and would send prison costs skyrocketing.

The awful facts are straightforward, simple. She was the victim of a brutal rape. The assailant was caught and convicted on 28 counts involving 11 women. He got 153 years in prison. But it is Catherine C. who feels like the one serving a life sentence.

Even as the Orange County woman continues to salve the emotional wounds she suffered in the 1988 attack, her anger has grown over society’s attitude toward rape. Although her attacker will probably never leave prison, she learned that such stiff sentences are the exception rather than the rule in California, where rapists average less than five years behind bars.

“Like others, I will live with the effects of this rape for the rest of my life,” she said. “It only seems fair that perpetrators should face the same consequences.”

She might soon get her wish. Buffeted by gusts of anti-crime sentiment sweeping the state in this election year, the Legislature is considering a “one-strike” measure that would put rapists and child molesters behind bars for life after a first conviction. It would be the strictest such penalty in the nation.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) at the behest of Gov. Pete Wilson, has been championed forcefully by victims of rape and molestation such as Catherine, who came forward with several others last week to provide compelling personal testimony at a televised Capitol public hearing.

While she and other boosters suggest that a “one-strike” law would mete out an appropriate penalty and could help begin to curb rape and molestation, opponents contend that the proposal goes too far, setting a dangerous precedent as the state and nation grapple with how best to get tough on crime.

Critics argue that Bergeson’s bill would send incarceration costs skyrocketing and, in cases of date rape or incest, have a chilling effect on victims, witnesses, jurors and prosecutors, potentially making it more difficult to put sex offenders behind bars. They also say the measure loses sight of rationality, blindly boosting penalties to the limit instead of carefully ratcheting up sentences for varying degrees of sex crimes.

“This isn’t the drafting of penal law; this is the crayoning in of punishments on an apparently arbitrary basis,” said Franklin Zimring, a professor of law at UC Berkeley. “Penal law reform has become a branch of the theater of the absurd.”

Opponents tried to water down the Bergeson bill during last week’s Senate Judiciary hearing, as Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) threatened to add language making only the most heinous rapists or molesters subject to a “one-strike” penalty. An uneasy Bergeson pulled the bill back and asked for more time to work with opponents.

“People are legitimately concerned about public safety and tired of repeat offenders who seem to be inadequately punished,” Lockyer said later. “But I want the Legislature to produce a statute that’s appropriate and not overreact because it’s fashionable (to pass harsh crime laws) in an election year.”

Bergeson and officials in the governor’s office remain resolute, saying they will not compromise on the legislation. “The bottom line is we release 250 convicted sex offenders from prison in California each month,” Bergeson said. “To me, that is unacceptable.”

She contends that a tough “one-strike” measure is needed because most perpetrators of sex crimes are repeat offenders. “I don’t want to give them a chance at that second victim.”

Critics say some evidence demonstrates otherwise. A 15-year study concluded in 1988 by the state Department of Justice found that about 20% of all sex offenders were arrested again for a similar crime. Lockyer and others suggest that the statistics paint an ominous scenario: The “one-strike” bill might unnecessarily incarcerate for life the four of five offenders who would not likely commit another sex crime.

But experts in mental health suggest that rehabilitation of sex offenders remains an elusive goal. “The research right now indicates we have not discovered the cure,” said Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health. “We aren’t able to provide treatments that make a substantial difference, particularly for rapists and pedophiles.”

Few of the bill’s opponents dispute that repeat violent rapists and molesters deserve to be put away for life. But they express concerns about handing out such extreme punishment in every sex crime case, suggesting a blanket life sentence for all might actually boost the number that get away.

In less sensational cases, juries might acquit if they believed that the penalty did not match the crime. Prosecutors could become reluctant to press charges. People assaulted by friends or family might refuse to cooperate with authorities once they learned of the consequences.

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Some critics suggest that the proposed law amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. They note that a life sentence would apply if two people were intoxicated during sexual intercourse and one reported a rape after sobering up. The bill also would impose a life term for spousal rape, which may now be charged as a misdemeanor. Molesters who forcefully fondled a child under age 14 through clothing also could be hit with life in prison.

“Why should marital rape be considered more serious than unaggravated first-degree murder, attempted murder, mayhem?” Zimring asked. “Having relations with someone under 14 is a serious crime, but is it worse than murder?”

Under current law, rape and many other violent sex crimes are punishable by sentences ranging from three to eight years for a single count on a first offense. Francisco Lobaco, the American Civil Liberties Union’s state legislative director, contends that those terms are tough enough. Rapists often serve consecutive prison sentences, with additional counts adding to their time behind bars. The most violent perpetrators of sex crimes, he said, “get very, very long sentences” as the law now stands.

Others worry because rape and molestation have among the highest rates of false arrests, increasing the odds that innocent people could be incarcerated for life.

Zimring finds it troubling. “All around us, we’re having this enormous debate about recovered-memory cases and in the middle of it up walks the governor with a proposal to make incest a crime punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole,” he said.

Boosters of the Bergeson “one-strike” bill contend that such arguments should not eclipse the most pressing reality they see: Sentences for rape and molestation are not tough enough.

“They had a peashooter to deal with my massive problem,” said Donna F., whose father was convicted of incest. “We’ve got to have a change. Maybe this bill goes too deep and we need to fix it, but we’ve got to have a change.”