SB 185-SEX OFFENDER/CHILD KIDNAPPER REGISTRATION  CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 185. 9:23:11 AM SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, Alaska State Legislature, said SB 185 requires sex offenders to register their email addresses and other internet identifiers. It will keep Alaska at the forefront of the battle against sexual predators by updating the sex offender registry list. Alaska has one of the highest usages of the internet in the country, but it is a way for predators to enter our homes in search of children who may think nothing of spending hours chatting with strangers. A child may be chatting with a sexual predator, and there is currently no way to know. This would give law enforcement a tool to keep track of the activities of convicted sexual predators, and to catch and punish them when they break the law. This will put Alaska at the forefront of the battle against sexual predators. Three states are already doing it, and 17 states are considering it. The Surviving Parents Coalition, Alaska Department of Public Safety, Anchorage Police Department, Alaska Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce, and Alaska Peace Officers Association all support SB 185. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he intended to make the email register public, and now he has concerns. The Department of Public Safety has requested it not be public. 9:26:15 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said she appreciates the bill and she has a bill that might merge with SB 185. It is a great idea. She asked about the problem of people owning multiple email addresses. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said there have been questions about combating this when someone can have 15 email addresses. But a person will have to register all addresses. It is difficult, but there are some complex investigatory tactics to catch internet predators. This will assist in catching them. SENATOR BUNDE said this is a goal of any parent, but he asked how it will work. 9:28:25 AM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said there different ways to do it. If the information is made public, any parent can do a search if he or she has suspicion. If it is not made public, a parent can call and ask if a particular email address is owned by a sexual predator. Currently a person can see where every sexual predator lives in the state. The way the bill is written, the name would not now pop up; a person would have to call the DPS and ask. 9:29:51 AM SENATOR BUNDE said it will still be public because a person can call and ask about a specific email. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said yes. CHAIR MCGUIRE said an amendment will be offered that represents "that tension between wanting parents to have that information to know - to be able to call -- but having it public, the concern is that other sex predators will then have access to other sex predators' email addresses. And there's a whole subcultural thing about that." SENATOR BUNDE said, "We don't need internet bathhouses." CHAIR MCGUIRE said, "Exactly." The middle ground may be that the list is confidential, but a parent can call and find out. 9:31:02 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked if the sponsor is saying this could be a tool for internet providers and internet security firms that could block such emails from children. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said groups like Facebook and MySpace are now setting parameters, and the goal is that those types of sites can coordinate with DPS. SENATOR STEVENS said it sounds like a person will be able to actually block information coming into a home computer. 9:32:28 AM SENATOR BUNDE noted that hard drives keep information so that if a predator was investigated and erased information, he would still have addresses in his computer. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said the information found on people's computers is pretty amazing. That technology is available. KATHY MONFREDA, Chief, Criminal Records and Identification Bureau, Department of Public Safety (DPS), said she manages the sex offender registry. DPS is supportive, but the issue of making the list public is not crystal clear - "that's our one concern." The electronic addresses should not be public but they should be available to law enforcement. The federal Adam Walsh Act [2006] and the "Sex Offender Registration Notification Act" addresses a lot of these issues. The federal government has set up the "SMART Office", which stands for Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking sex offenders. The Adam Walsh Act requires the state to collect electronic addresses. The proposed guidelines will be finalized soon, and electronic addresses will not be on a public website. Software is being developed for the states so that the public can enter any email address and it will query the database for the entire country. There is no guarantee that a particular address isn't an offender just because it isn't on the list. 9:35:53 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked why it should not be made public. MS. MONFREDA said she has two concerns. A public list will allow predators to communicate with each other, and it could promote vigilantism. If the predators communicate, they could transmit illegal information back and forth. The government would be giving a means to these offenders to communicate. SENATOR GREEN asked, "Haven't we already passed that by the release of information that's available about their residence, their description, their vehicle?" MS. MONFREDA said current law covers addresses, not email addresses. She wants that clarified. SENATOR GREEN asked if it is already public. MS. MONFREDA repeated her answer. SENATOR GREEN said she doesn't "see the difference in an address and the other things available." She has never looked into it, but people have told her that a sex offender lives down the street, "and I recognize the picture. To me we've already opened that door and gone in. I don't know how we turned back, because there's certainly ample opportunity for contact to be made, currently, if we're furnishing an address. Is there not currently a picture?" MS. MONFREDA said, "Yes, of course." 9:38:50 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said the identity of the sex offenders is already made known through the registry, so it is not a matter of that being made public "and how they might feel." But by providing their email addresses, "are we actually assisting them in reaching out to other offenders?" She questioned the likelihood of an offender getting the physical address of another and visiting each other to share child pornography. It is far easier to get on the internet to invite a person into a chat room to share that information. SENATOR GREEN asked, "That's a bad thing?" She said she shouldn't have said that, but there is ample opportunity for people "who are so inclined" to be in touch with each other. She is not sold on this. "I was shocked when we first allowed all the information to go out and be public." She was surprised at how much was available. "That's another penalty onto, perhaps, a served penalty." Regardless of how distasteful it is, "I don't see why we would suddenly restrict the information." MS. MONFREDA said the concern is the convenience of being able to communicate instantly electronically. DAVID SCHADE, Director, Division of Statewide Services, DPS, said Ms. Monfreda has communicated everything. 9:41:36 AM RON TIDLER, Sergeant, Anchorage Police Department, said the Alaska ICAC [Internet Crimes Against Children] Task Force supports SB 185 with the same concerns as Ms. Monfreda. CHAIR MCGUIRE asked him to address Senator Green's question of why excluding sex offender email addresses is important to public safety. MR. TIDLER said, as stated before, the ability for these offenders to get together in their own private chat rooms is a concern. There is also the concern of the public having access to this list of sex offenders and sending anonymous harassing emails. For law enforcement, having the list of the email addresses of sex offenders will assist in investigations. SENATOR GREEN asked the success rate of registration, and if the information is kept up to date. Under current law, are the offender registrations 100 percent effective or what? Do you always find people who have not registered? 9:44:27 AM MS. MONFREDA said about 90 percent of offenders are considered compliant. Noncompliant offender lists are given to law enforcement to try to track them down. SENATOR GREEN asked if any sex offender must register. MS. MONFREDA said the law requiring registration is specific. SENATOR GREEN asked how the state follows up on those not registered. MS. MONFREDA said a website posts the compliant and noncompliant offenders. Law enforcement seeks out noncompliant offenders using their last known address. SENATOR GREEN asked, "Regardless of whether they have actually filled out the paperwork and registered, you place their name on the offender list?" 9:46:16 AM MS. MONFREDA said noncompliant convicted sex offenders will be shown on the website as such. SENATOR STEVENS noted the two reasons for not making the email address list public: it will give predators a chat room, and it may encourage vigilantism. One officer said these people may get harassing emails. He said he gets a lot of harassing emails of a political nature. "So what? So what if a parent sends a harassing email to a known predator?" 9:47:24 AM MS. MONFREDA said it will impact law enforcement agencies when sex offenders file complaints for harassment. SENATOR STEVENS said he is not sure that harassing emails is that bad. MS. MONFREDA said it is illegal. 9:48:08 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said there are two amendments, and Amendment 1 is the matter of the list being public or not. The DPS feels that publishing the list would assist sexual predators in networking. The committee took an at-ease from 9:49:16 AM until 9:49:58 AM. CHAIR MCGUIRE said the bill, if amended, will still require the DPS to collect email addresses, but they will be confidential and not on a website. Parents can call and find out if an email is on the list, but it won't be open to other sex offenders. SENATOR BUNDE said he is inclined to support the amendment. If the state provides an opportunity for illegal harassment, "I can see clever attorneys suing the state on behalf of these people." SENATOR GREEN asked if such lawsuits would be against the state. SENATOR BUNDE said yes -- if the state provided the lists. SENATOR GREEN said she questions that. "I don't think the state's the party to this." The harasser would be sued. 9:52:06 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said she dealt with a case of a polar bear mauling, and just because it was on state land... SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said his initial intent was to make the list public, and he never thought about it being a way for sex offenders to share child pornography. People in DPS and across the nation recommend against a public list. He said he is open. Line 8 refers to a residence address, and that is requested by the department so that work email addresses aren't included. That is probably good -- so people don't harass employers. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said people have work emails, and "my understanding is that that change … will limit it to just people's residence addresses." SENATOR GREEN asked if it refers to their email access at the place of work. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said right now the bill requires registering an address, "so just to clear up any confusion, because fast food restaurants -- things like that -- they may employee sex offenders. And I don't think when you go on a sex offender list anyone wants their small business or large business showing up on the sex offender list." He doesn't think people want work emails to show up, and that is appropriate. 9:54:43 AM SENATOR GREEN asked, "Isn't the activity we're trying to stop already illegal?" SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said it is not. SENATOR GREEN asked about pornographic material. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said child pornography is illegal. This bill will require sexual predators to register their email addresses. An offender could be having a chat with a 14-year- old, posing as a 14-year-old himself, and that is legal as long as there is no enticement. CHAIR MCGUIRE said it is just one other layer. There will be offenders using an email address without registering. There are people registering to addresses that aren't theirs. There are all kinds of things that can happen, but the bill addresses one more layer to get information about an individual. SENATOR BUNDE said to remember that enticement of children is not a one-time incident. There is a long courting process. When someone is emailing with a child, he may not be explicit at that point, but it could be a process. 9:56:43 AM SENATOR GREEN asked if this makes it illegal for a sex offender to communicate with an unknown person. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said it does not, it only requires them to register their email address. SENATOR GREEN noted that it would take an intervener, like a parent, to call the troopers. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said yes. SENATOR GREEN asked how often will that really happen. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said many parents take active rolls, and should, in their children's email communications. 9:57:36 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said it will play out the way it does now. Mothers will notice sex offenders and share the information with other mothers, and they will ask who their child is talking to. It is no different than being cleared to play with someone. Calling DPS will be another tool for a parent, she explained. SENATOR STEVENS said he likes the second paragraph of the sponsor statement. "I think what [that paragraph] says is if this becomes a tool, there will be internet security firms that can either block children from getting these messages or it could warn parents that their children are getting messages from someone they shouldn't be getting it from." By taking out the public aspect, will that advantage be voided? 9:59:03 AM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that is a good question. This is a first step. But the information won't be private; it is just not on an open website. The DPS could still have an arrangement with MySpace or Facebook to provide such information. SENATOR STEVENS sees a disadvantage in not making the list public. SENATOR BUNDE noted that if this amendment passes, a parent could contact the DPS about an email address. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said it is not his amendment. His concern is the language that says the information is confidential and not subject to public disclosure. He has some of the same questions. Maybe an attorney can clarify it. He asked if parents can still get that information and share it with internet providers and security firms. SENATOR BUNDE said a responsible company should be able to prevent those registered emails from its service. 10:01:58 AM ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Alaska Department of Law, said the bill requires sex offenders to register email addresses and other internet identifier information, and it makes it illegal to fail to register. Law enforcement doesn't want to create an internet chat room for exchanging child pornography, because the information is so easy to get. The intent of the amendment is to not do that, but keep it available to law enforcement. So "confidential" might not be the right word, because the information should be available to parents. A sex offender residential address list benefits a neighborhood, but the internet is nationwide. 10:04:24 AM SENATOR GREEN asked if there is somewhere else in the statute that provides for the descriptions or the qualifications of the person who's requesting the information. It doesn't say parent or law abiding citizens. "This too could be the other predator." MS. CARPENETI said she thinks there are regulations in terms of people asking for information. CHAIR MCGUIRE said she will set aside SB 185 to make sure it is crafted as well as it could be. MS. MONFREDA said she agrees that the word "confidential" may create a problem, but the SMART office intends to create a national address database for parents and internet companies. CHAIR MCGUIRE asked her to look at Amendment 1 before Tuesday to make sure the bill accomplishes its goal. CHAIR MCGUIRE withdrew Amendment 1 and set SB 185 aside.