Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/14/1993 01:45 PM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATOR TAYLOR introduced CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 69 (FIN) (SEX
OFFENDER REGISTRATION) sponsored by REPRESENTATIVE RAMONA
BARNES and represented to the committee by DOUG WOOLIVER,
Staff Attorney.
Number 505
SENATOR TAYLOR invited MR. WOOLIVER to present the bill for
HOUSE SPEAKER RAMONA BARNES.
MR. WOOLIVER reviewed the sectional analysis for CSHB 69
(FIN): "An Act relating to registration of and information
about sex offenders and amending Alaska Rules of Criminal
Procedure 11(c) and 32(b); and providing for an effective
date."
MR. WOOLIVER explained the bill covered crimes of sexual
assault in the first, second, and third degree; sexual abuse
of a minor in the first, second, and third degree; promoting
prostitution in the first degree; and incest and unlawful
exploitation of a minor. He also explained the bill covered
crimes not only committed in Alaska but those in other
jurisdictions when those persons moved to Alaska.
MR. WOOLIVER said a sex offender in Alaska would have seven
days in which to register, and those who come to Alaska would
have fourteen days in which to register. He explained the
provisions of the bill would be retroactive to January 1,
1984. Anyone convicted of two or more sex offenses would be
required to register for life, and anyone with one sex offense
would be required to register for fifteen years. These
periods would commence after their unconditional discharge.
In Subsection (b)(1), MR. WOOLIVER listed the information to
be contained in the registration, including name, address,
place of employment, date of birth, each conviction for a sex
offense for which the duty to register has not terminated,
date, place and court of sex offense conviction, all aliases
used and driver's license number. All of this information
would be available to the public except for the offenders'
finger prints, drivers license, and aliases.
MR. WOOLIVER explained this bill was needed since Alaska leads
the nation in child sexual abuse and is second in the nation
in sexual assaults, and he cited studies from California and
other places which accused sex offenders of having the highest
recidivism rate.
MR. WOOLIVER quoted devastating statistics from various
sources on the differences in sex offenders, the large number
of victims, as well as investigations which concluded that
rapists and child sexual abusers were more likely to be
arrested for new sex crimes if they completed psychological
treatment. MR. WOOLIVER claimed therapy was deemed to be
ineffective, and he quoted a study from Canada that determined
that sex offenders were worse after treatment. He noted the
high number of children abused by sex offenders who grew up
to be sex offenders themselves.
Number 545
MR. WOOLIVER continued his presentation with an assessment
of the pervasive aspects of the present unregistered sex
offender problem in Alaska. He said there was a lack of
"handy" information on child sex offenders, and the offenders
were found to be in areas where they had ready access to
children.
MR. WOOLIVER concluded his review of HB 69 by specifying the
uses for the registration of sex offenders, and he referred
to a California study which showed overwhelming support from
law enforcement agencies as a beneficial system for aiding
their jobs. He said there were currently eighteen states with
sex offender registration and a couple more have registration
for drug offenses as well. He reported HB 69 was similar to
registration legislation in the other states.
Number 577
SENATOR LITTLE questioned the constitutionally of the bill
since it would increase the sentence of those persons
convicted of a sex offense.
MR. WOOLIVER said this was a fair assessment and had been
brought up in other courts, but it has been found the law was
not punitive, but was regulatory - in most of the other cases.
He said this did not violate the ex facto provision of laws,
and the courts in Alaska ......
TAPE 93-43, SIDE B
Number 001
.... have addressed similar cases in the past as having a
valid regulatory purpose for the law.
SENATOR LITTLE suggested there might be punitive effects. MR.
WOOLIVER said she was correct, and he explained the actions
of the court in this respect. He quoted a constitutional case
settled by the supreme court in 1990 which has limitations to
the impact on the convicted person.
In a series of questions, SENATOR JACKO asked about repeat
offenders? MR. WOOLIVER answered there was a difference in
registration requirements. SENATOR JACKO asked if the public
disclosure provisions of the legislation were in excess of
those in other states. MR WOOLIVER'S answer included a review
of disclosure provisions from other states which have
withstood challenge. The right to privacy was also discussed.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked MR. WOOLIVER about restrictions in the
dissemination of registration information. SENATOR TAYLOR
followed up with a series of questions to determine the limits
on the dissemination in other states. He also asked for the
specific proposed regulation in the bill to determine who has
access to the information.
MR. WOOLIVER directed the committee to page 4, line 7, (b) to
explain the extent of disclosure in HB 69.
SENATOR TAYLOR thanked MR. WOOLIVER and invited LIZ DODD,
representing the Alaska Chapter of the Civil Liberties Union,
to testify.
MS. DODD described the dissemination of information in the
State of Washington from the registry to police offices, who
then decide whether or not to furnish the information. She
also explained the process of having a hearing to remove the
offender's name from the registry if that person can prove
they have been rehabilitated.
Number 071
MS. DODD also described the procedures for access to the
registries in other states, but she explained, under HB 69,
any business person could access the registry to find out the
information. MS. DODD thought this was a problem and would
not protect any children.
In her prepared statement, MS. DODD said the ACLU supported
the intended purpose of protecting the public from the chronic
sex offenders, but she thought the bill conflicted with the
constitution. She listed the concerns of the ACLU beginning
with "drowning the privacy rights of persons who have served
their prescribed sentence for the crime." She objected to the
wide-open public disclosure provision as being excessive
retribution rather than public protection. MS. DODD thought
this would be struck down by the courts and described it in
terms of ex facto restrictions.
MS. DODD further used the constitution to protest lumping all
sex offenders together for purposes of registration and for
assuming that all sex offenders are chronic and predatory.
She said this false assumption leads to the conclusion that
no offender should be exempted from registration, even those
considered treatable.
MS. DODD said there would be no incentive for offenders to
seek treatment, since they would be considered as an
untreatable offender despite any steps they take to correct
their behavior. She described how this might lead to an
increase in offenses, especially among the borderline
offenders. She contrasted this to the State of Washington
where the offender can petition the court to waive
registration requirements. With this legislation, she said
the first time offender would be treated as a repeat offender
regardless of individual circumstances.
Number 108
MS. DODD explained the difference in sex offenses in Alaska
as being alcohol related, where rehabilitation can diminish
the problem. She further explained this wouldn't be taken
into consideration in the legislation regardless of treatment
or circumstances. She claimed the registration would
disproportionally impact rural Alaskans most affected by
alcoholism. MS. DODD illustrated why she thought this would
be a grievous, race-biased error, and she accused HB 69 of
taking the "drift-net" approach.
MS. DODD concluded with remarks on cruel and unusual
punishment, where perpetrators could be sentenced to extended
periods, or a life time, of social ostracism and on-going
depravation of their basic rights as protected by the U. S.
Constitution. She described incidents of public ridicule and
vigilantism used in other states.
Number 133
MS. DODD reviewed the ACLU'S position on the provisions in the
legislation, HB 69, as being in conflict with the rights
guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution and the Alaska State
Constitution. She said the legislation was comparable to the
days of the stock and pillory in the public square - and would
do little to stop sex offenses. She expressed concern that
it would increase sex offenses and limit the treatment of
offenders.
MS. DODD asked the committee to hold the bill for further
evaluation of statistics in relation to similar legislation
passed in other states.
SENATOR TAYLOR called on PAUL NELSON from Haines.
MR. NELSON began his testimony by questioning MR. WOOLIVER on
his statistic that Alaska had six times the national rate for
sex offenses and asked if that was accusations or convictions.
MR. WOOLIVER thought they were convictions, but he wasn't
completely sure. SENATOR TAYLOR said he would find out the
correct statistics and report back to the committee.
MR. NELSON quoted from the Constitution of the United States,
Section 9, that the retroactivity clause was in violation of
the constitution. He thought registration of sex offenders
might be a good idea but suggested a preference for the parole
and probation system. MR. NELSON said the State of Alaska did
not need more laws in violation of the constitution and asked
that the bill not be passed from committee.
SENATOR DONLEY asked how it violated the constitution?
MR. NELSON quoted the constitution as saying that no law may
be passed which increases the punishment for a criminal who
has already been sentenced. He said HB 69 would require
people previously convicted to increase their sentence by
registering.
Number 175
SENATOR DONLEY said it was within the police power of the
state to provide public protection, and he claimed this was
not a punishment for sex offenders. It was meant for public
protection purposes. MR. NELSON disagreed and reiterated his
arguments.
SENATOR TAYLOR suggested that MR. NELSON'S comments should be
directed to MS. DODD.
SENATOR DONLEY asked MR. NELSON for some case law on the
subject, and MR. NELSON again referred to the constitution.
MS. DODD gave an explanation from the documents she has read
and concluded it was a process of public protection being
weighed against the punitive nature arising from retroactive
restrictions. SENATOR TAYLOR asked MS. DODD for a written
report on her information for the committee.
Number 209
SENATOR TAYLOR next invited MARCIA MCKENZIE, Program Director
for the Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault for the
Department of Public Safety, to testify.
MS. MCKENZIE presented testimony from the council in support
of HB 69, because the council feels it would deter, if not
prevent, future abuses of women and children. She quoted
statistics from 1991 that the rate of sexual abuse in Alaska
was more than double the nation average. She said in 1992 the
rate of forcible rape rose 28% from the previous year.
MS. MCKENZIE explained that many sex offenders were released
from prison without having completed sex offender treatment,
which makes for a high likelihood of recidivism. In addition
to the victimization, the cost of the recidivism is high. She
thought anything that could deter this would be beneficial.
MS. MCKENZIE asked some questions about the registration such
as who would be checking on the offender. She explained it
would be helpful to the shelter programs to do background
checks on potential employees. For this reason, she said the
council was supportive of the registration concept.
SENATOR LITTLE offered a conceptual amendment to allow the
information only released to the law enforcement entities,
with such information released to the general public at the
discretion of these entities.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked the committee staff to draw up a draft
of SENATOR LITTLE'S conceptual amendment for consideration by
the committee.
SENATOR LITTLE offered an additional conceptual amendment,
similar to a provision in the Washington State law, to offer
the offender the right to petition the court to waive the
registration requirement.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked ARTHUR SNOWDEN, Administrative Director
for the Judicial Branch, if he wanted to testify.
MR. SNOWDEN, in reference to the first conceptual amendment
by SENATOR LITTLE, said the didn't want the court to begin
sealing public documents.
Number 268
Next to speak was MARGO KNUTH, Asst. Attorney General,
Criminal Division, for the Department of Law, who explained
that the first conceptual amendment by SENATOR LITTLE might
cause some tort problems for the state. She said it would put
the law enforcement agencies in the position of deciding the
guidelines used to make the decision as to whether disclosure
is appropriate.
SENATOR JACKO asked for additional testimony from other states
in which registration of sex offenders was done.
SENATOR TAYLOR reported from MR. WOOLIVER that other states
had similar laws using a screening device. He asked the staff
aide to check with MS. KNUTH in writing the amendments.
MR. WOOLIVER said the waiver provision was discussed in House
Committees, and there were objections from those who work with
victims of sexual assault. He said those in other states who
could afford the lawyers to get the waiver, were sometimes the
worst offenders. He said there had been a concern there would
be a disproportionate impact on the native population.
SENATOR JACKO asked MR. WOOLIVER if the registration would
impact the large segment of the native population that commit
suicide.
MR. WOOLIVER didn't know of any studies, but did know there
was a high rate of suicide among the victims of sexual abuse.
He quoted testimony from other committees that there wasn't
a higher percentage of sex offenders, but he offered to do
some research.
SENATOR JACKO asked whether there could be the option of
electrocution rather than being registered as an offender.
SENATOR TAYLOR said there being no more questions, testimony
on HB 69 would be tabled for another meeting.
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