Softer Version of Bergeson’s 1-Strike Bill Wins Key Vote

A key Senate committee on Tuesday softened but ultimately approved an Orange County lawmaker’s one-strike bill that would set sentences for some first-time rapists and child molesters at 25 years to life.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) on an 8-0 vote, but not before narrowing the scope of the legislation so it now reaches only the worst offenders.

Bergeson began to carry the bill at the behest of Gov. Pete Wilson, who has made the rape measure one of the centerpieces of his election-year fight on crime. As originally drafted, the bill required a blanket sentence of life without the possibility of parole for nearly all sex offenses.

That tough stance drew broad attacks from civil libertarians and other groups, including some district attorneys and women’s organizations, who said the measure was so harsh it might actually hinder prosecutions or prompt rapists to kill their victims.

Bergeson redrafted the bill to delete all references to sentences of life without parole, substituting a penalty of 25 years to life for the most serious offenses and doubling current penalties--now ranging from three to eight years--for all others.

The Judiciary Committee went even further Tuesday to tone down the measure, most directly by eliminating the doubled penalties for less-serious sex offenses.

As now drafted, a rapist or child molester could get the maximum sentence of 25 years to life only if one of the following circumstances applied: The victim was kidnaped; she suffered great bodily injury; the rape was committed during a burglary; a deadly weapon was used; multiple victims were attacked; or the rapist had a previous felony conviction for a sex offense.

Bergeson said she was pleased that the measure had survived the committee and expressed hope that it will be signed into law.

“The committee’s changes didn’t take away the force of the one-strike provisions,” Bergeson said. “It’s a bill I think we all can be proud of.”

Her measure still faces several tough votes in the months to come--and will be competing with a bill authored by Assemblyman Bob Epple (D-Cerritos), who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Epple’s measure would apply a life sentence only when rape was committed during a kidnaping or residential burglary at the same time that a weapon was used or a victim suffered great bodily harm.