Californias cowardly U-turn on barring sex offenders from office
Californians should be able to agree that convicted sex offenders should not be allowed to hold public office.Yet legislators killed a proposed ban because of a bizarre fight over which sex offenses should count.The issue came up after a registered sex offender announced his candidacy for City Council in Fresno County, shocking local voters.Local officials searched for a legal basis to keep him off the ballot, but because no law prohibited a registered sex offender from running for local office, there was little they could do.Ultimately, the candidate failed to gather enough signatures to qualify.
But the incident exposed a glaring gap in California law.In response, legislators introduced two straightforward, bipartisan reforms to ensure it could not happen again.AB 2753 would prohibit registered sex offenders from qualifying for the ballot.
AB 2691 would prohibit individuals convicted of sexual assault or human trafficking from seeking elected office.Neither proposal was controversial.
Both passed the Assembly without a single vote in opposition.They reflected a simple principle: Those who have committed some of society’s most serious crimes should not be entrusted with positions of public trust.But Democrat Scott Wiener of San Francisco, chair of the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, argued against California’s sex offender registry itself, persuading his colleagues to abstain from supporting AB 2753.What happened to AB 2691 was even more disturbing.
Rather than advancing the bill as written, the committee chair required amendments that would exempt some convictions when the victim was a minor.His concern was so-called “Romeo and Juliet” couples, close in age but on either side of the legal age of consent.
An adult who sexually assaulted another adult? Cannot run for office under this bill.But victimizing a minor close in age? Totally fine to run for school board or city council or any other elected office.This should never...