The Finger Pointers: Crist, Gelber and Book

Iowa did it.

So why can't Florida change the state's sex offender law?

Because it takes political courage.

As reported by Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown (7/23/2009):

(...)

How did Iowa do it?

Legislators were prodded by some powerful forces -- all of whom lobbied hard for change.

With an election year on the horizon in 2010, the jittery lawmakers formed a committee that met in secret and crafted a law they felt the entire legislature -- and the public -- could live with.

Among other things, the law created three tiers whereby those who committed very minor sex crimes would be permitted to live near a school or other places where children congregate. The very worst sex offenders still must adhere to the 2,000-foot ban and other strict rules.
"The law enforcement community was pretty united," said Ross Loder, of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. "We are not nearly concerned about where the sex offender sleeps; we are really concerned about what they do when they are awake."
That kind of debate is not happening in Florida, where local and state government leaders continue pointing fingers at each other and penning lawsuits to find an answer.

TAKE NOTE OF THE FINGER POINTERS. Charlie Crist, state Senator Dan Gelber (who seeks the Democratic nomination for Attorney General) and lobbyist and Chair of the Homeless Trust and Smashed Frog favorite, Ron Book.

(...)

Meanwhile, the Florida legislature has almost ignored the issue, with Gov. Charlie Crist refusing to step in, saying it's a local matter.

Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber, whose district includes the Julia Tuttle Causeway and is campaigning for state attorney general, agrees that something needs to be done, but says a lot more thoughtful policy must go into it.

"Florida has much more different challenges than Iowa," Gelber said. "What we're not going to do is have statewide lower standards and open our neighborhoods because some professor says it's OK."

Gelber firmly believes that sex offenders are likely to continue to commit sex crimes. He favors some of the proposals being hammered out by Ron Book, chairman of Miami-Dade's Homeless Trust. Book is trying to find housing alternatives for the homeless sex offenders now living under the causeway.

Book said Thursday that they are looking at several properties in South Miami, as well as the old North Dade Detention Center, where staff offices had previously been converted into living quarters.

He conceded however, that moving them is not the solution. "We don't need a Band-aid; we need a longer-term solution. As more and more of these sexual predators exit the correctional system and there's less and space, what do you do with the population?

A better question is, what do the people of Florida do with the likes of Crist, Gelber and Book?

Lode, of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, "It takes political courage to step up and enact changes."

As voiced by Albert Einstein, "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

Ms. Brown's article in its entirety.

Unlike Florida, Iowa reworked sex offender law

Midwestern state's new law superseded local ordinances and eased residency requirements for minor sex offenders

By Julie Brown

The Miami Herald

9:47 PM EDT, July 23, 2009

MIAMI

A flock of sex offenders camping out in alleys, sleeping under bridges and hiding in places where police can't keep track of them.

A patchwork of inconsistent city, township and county laws carving out zones where sex offenders are not welcome.

And squeamish elected officials petrified that if they try to brew a fix their next attack ad will be a snapshot of them with their arms around a sex predator.

Sound familiar? It may all seem like Miami-Dade's quandary over what to do with the sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway -- but it's not.

Iowa officials faced nearly the same issues, but in April settled things by doing something Florida hasn't found the political will to do -- change its sexual predator law.

This past spring, Iowa's state legislature -- with almost no dissent -- passed a new sex offender law that superseded local ordinances and eased residency requirements for minor sex offenders.

The law ended the ban against some sex offenders living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center and created other zones where they are prohibited from lingering, visiting or working.

The new statute is less confusing, and while it's not perfect, it has been lauded by law enforcement, victims' rights advocates, the ACLU, prosecutors and legislators as a positive step.

Iowa offers a roadmap for Florida to break its political stalemate over how to deal with convicted sex offenders who have left prison.

The story in Iowa began in 2005 when the state legislature passed into law a strict measure prohibiting all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. But it became problematic almost from the start.

Like Florida's law, it was written so broadly that even those who only gave a pornographic magazine to a minor were considered as dangerous as someone who raped a 9-year-old. In Iowa, both were classified as sex offenders and had to register and live outside the 2,000-foot zone. (Florida's law is 1,000 feet)

"We were just about the first state in the nation to pass a sex offender law," recalled Randall Wilson, legal director for Iowa's ACLU. "It sounded good on paper to a lot of politicians. But after several years, everyone realized we made a terrible mistake."

Iowa State Sen. Jerry Behn recalled that legislators were nervous about changing the law at time of media frenzy over child abductions and deadly sex crimes against children.

"Nobody wants a flier saying you are going soft on sex predators," Behn said.

But law enforcement prevailed by pointing out the problems with the law.

Police had a tough time enforcing it for several reasons: with no place to live, sexual offenders often absconded, police spent too much time trying to find them and when they did find them, couldn't register them because they had no residence.

Like South Florida, Des Moines had its share of sex offenders living under bridges, in alleys and on the streets.

William Melville, president of the Iowa Association of Chiefs of Police and Peace Officers and Sioux City police sergeant, said at one point the city had a map with all the exclusionary zones circled on it.

"Someone would come up to us and ask 'Where's this little white area where I can go?'ƒ|"

How did Iowa do it?

Legislators were prodded by some powerful forces -- all of whom lobbied hard for change.

With an election year on the horizon in 2010, the jittery lawmakers formed a committee that met in secret and crafted a law they felt the entire legislature -- and the public -- could live with.

Among other things, the law created three tiers whereby those who committed very minor sex crimes would be permitted to live near a school or other places where children congregate. The very worst sex offenders still must adhere to the 2,000-foot ban and other strict rules.

"The law enforcement community was pretty united," said Ross Loder, of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. "We are not nearly concerned about where the sex offender sleeps; we are really concerned about what they do when they are awake."

That kind of debate is not happening in Florida, where local and state government leaders continue pointing fingers at each other and penning lawsuits to find an answer.

Meanwhile, the Florida legislature has almost ignored the issue, with Gov. Charlie Crist refusing to step in, saying it's a local matter.

Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber, whose district includes the Julia Tuttle Causeway and is campaigning for state attorney general, agrees that something needs to be done, but says a lot more thoughtful policy must go into it.

"Florida has much more different challenges than Iowa," Gelber said. "What we're not going to do is have statewide lower standards and open our neighborhoods because some professor says it's OK."

Gelber firmly believes that sex offenders are likely to continue to commit sex crimes. He favors some of the proposals being hammered out by Ron Book, chairman of Miami-Dade's Homeless Trust. Book is trying to find housing alternatives for the homeless sex offenders now living under the causeway.

Book said Thursday that they are looking at several properties in South Miami, as well as the old North Dade Detention Center, where staff offices had previously been converted into living quarters.

He conceded however, that moving them is not the solution. "We don't need a Band-aid; we need a longer-term solution. As more and more of these sexual predators exit the correctional system and there's less and space, what do you do with the population?"

But Lode, of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, warns that the further people marginalize sexual predators, the more isolated they become from society -- and the more likely they are to re-commit crimes.

Said Lode: "It takes political courage to step up and enact changes."

Copyright © 2009, South Florida Sun-Sentinel