Wider ‘Megan’s Law’ Disclosure Sought

A proposed law requiring local police to disclose extensive information about child molesters living in their communities has been expanded to include those convicted of sex crimes against adults as well.

The proposal is part of California’s version of “Megan’s law,” a new federal statute requiring local police to publicly disclose information about dangerous sexual criminals. The bill is expected to clear the Legislature and be sent to Gov. Pete Wilson this week.

Already, citizens can call a 900 telephone number at the state Department of Justice and learn whether someone they have concerns about has a history of sex crimes involving children.

Under Assembly Bill 1562, the list would be expanded to include sexual crimes in which adults were victims, including rape, kidnapping and incest.

In addition, the bill would give police new powers. For example, police officers who suspect that a freed sex offender might prey again would be authorized to warn potential victims that they are “likely to encounter” the person.

The legislation would require that information provided about an offender include an address, description and license number of his or her vehicle, the type of victim previously targeted, parole conditions, aliases, race and history of sex crime convictions.

Information would be available either through the 900 line or on computers at local police stations.

The measure sailed through the Assembly and Senate, but its provisions were toughened in a two-house conference committee last week to include public disclosure of thousands of additional sex offenders.

The bill is sponsored by Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and was introduced by Assemblywoman Barbara Alby (R-Fair Oaks) to implement the federal “Megan’s law” in California.

“Megan’s law” was enacted after the 1994 rape and murder of a 7-year-old New Jersey girl, Megan Kanka, allegedly by a twice-convicted child molester who lived across the street.

Lungren’s spokesman said the attorney general favors “giving law-abiding citizens the information so they can take steps to protect themselves rather than shielding the convicted felons when they are released into the community and are likely to offend again.”

As it left the Assembly in January, the bill simply authorized police to publicize the whereabouts of released sex offenders when they moved into a community.

The bill did not detail how police would publicize the whereabouts of the offender, nor did it make distinctions between various categories of sex offenders.

The conference committee is still putting the final touches on amendments that would list offenders whose whereabouts would be subject to disclosure.

Some critics maintain that the bill would unfairly discriminate against ex-convicts who had paid their debt to society in prison.

Others have raised concerns about the information leading to possible vigilantism and harassment.

Francisco Lobaco, lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union, said he fears that information made public about ex-convicts would be used, for example, to reject them for admission to college or deny them access to life or health insurance coverage.

He said current law prohibits the use of information obtained from the 900 line from being used for discriminatory purposes against child sex offenders but said the same protection is not extended to those on the proposed expanded list.

“The new provisions do not have any protections that this information will not be used in any discriminatory fashion against an ex-offender,” Lobaco said.

In an attempt to record any potential abuses, the bill calls for a report in the year 2000 that would track instances in which the information was misused.

Last year, the Legislature established the 900 line for inquiries relating to child molesters and authorized sheriff’s and police departments to allow citizens to inspect directories of known local sex offenders.

In its first 13 months of operation, the department has recorded more than 6,600 telephone and mail inquiries, said spokesman Mike Van Winkle. In 577 cases, a match was made, he said.

He said the department, which charges $5 per phone inquiry, has made no estimate of the volume of calls that would occur if the expanded bill becomes law.