This past summer, Megan’s Law dominated headlines in the GLBT community when registered sex offenders were discovered working for San Diego Pride. By next summer, the headlines may be focused on Jessica’s Law, one of the nation’s toughest and most comprehensive sexual-predator and punishment laws, which is scheduled to appear on the June 2006 ballot.

Megan’s Law was named after 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was raped and killed by a known child molester who moved in across the street from her home without her family’s knowledge. Signed into law by President Clinton in May 1996, Megan’s Law requires uniform sex-offender registration in all 50 states.

The new initiative is named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl who was murdered in February 2005 by a convicted sex offender who had failed to register with local police as required by Megan’s Law.

“These dangerous predators have been preying on our most vulnerable for too long,” said Assemblymember Sharon Runner, R-Antelope Valley. “Secrecy is their biggest tool to victimize our children and families. As a legislator, mother and now a grandmother, I feel my most important job is to keep these predators away from our children and within our sights.”

Jessica’s Law features major reforms regarding how California punishes and monitors sexual predators. Not only would convicted sex offenders be required to register with local authorities, they would also be required to wear global positioning satellite (GPS) devices for life once they are released from state prison. The measure also prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, makes possession of child pornography a felony, and strengthens penalties across the board for serious sex offenders.

“We need to equip our law enforcement with the best technology available in order to stop these predators from flying under the radar. Requiring GPS monitoring of sex offenders will be a huge deterrent and prevent many children from being victimized in the future,” said state Senator George Runner, R-Antelope Valley.

Husband and wife team Senator Runner and Assemblymember Runner as well as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are sponsoring the Jessica’s Law initiative. The California District Attorneys Association and the California State Sheriffs Association have also endorsed the law. Locally, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to support the campaign.

“The county has relentlessly called on the state to toughen sex offender laws to no avail,” said San Diego Supervisor Ron Roberts. “This initiative will implement many of the exact changes that the county has been pushing for years, including strengthening the Sexually Violent Predator Program.”

Each of the provisions contained in Jessica’s Law introduced in the Legislature was either killed or refused a hearing by the criminal defense lobby that controls the key committees in the Assembly and the Senate, according to Assemblymember Runner.

“Fortunately, our initiative process allows people to protect themselves when the Legislature doesn’t do its job,” she said.

“The Jessica’s Law initiative is a wake-up call to state legislators who’ve failed to act to protect our kids,” said San Diego Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “Whether it’s mandatory GPS tracking or barring offenders from living close to schools and parks, our kids deserve nothing less than the toughest sex offender laws in the nation.”

A similar initiative sped through the legislative process in Florida, pushed by outraged lawmakers, many of whom said it was hard to temper their anger and not go for something even harsher, according to a report in the Sun Herald. Legislators there unanimously passed the Jessica Lunsford Act on April 19, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush added his signature on April 22. The act went into affect this month.

The Campaign for Child Safety, the official committee behind the Jessica’s Law campaign in California, is currently gathering signatures in order to qualify for the June 2006 ballot. The initiative needs to submit 373,816 valid signatures.