Jessia's Law Update

For those of you that aren't aware of Jessica's Law, it came about and is named after Jessica Lunsford, who was just nine when her life was brutally ended by a sexual predator who had previously been convicted of sex crimes against a child. There are many judges that don't see these crimes against children as serious. Some examples:

• In Rhode Island, 18-year-old Josh Maciorski was convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old girl, but sentenced to probation. Two years later he molested a 14-year-old girl and served just one year. Then, when he got out, Maciorski raped a 16-year-old girl. His sentence after this third strike - an unbelievable three years in prison.
• In Missouri, 19-year old Darrell Jackson pleaded guilty to repeatedly sexually abusing a little girl, beginning when she was just eight. But when Jackson came up for sentencing, a soft judge gave him four months in prison and five years probation.
• In Minnesota, Joseph Duncan stood in front of a judge, accused of molesting a young boy. Despite the fact that Duncan had previously served 16 years for raping another young boy at gunpoint, the judge released him on just $15,000 bail. Duncan promptly skipped bail and headed for Idaho, where he allegedly kidnapped, raped, and killed a 9-year old boy, molested his sister, and killed their family.

What Jessica's Law mandates a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison for first-time child sex offenders. Considering that a human being is damaged for life by pedophile rapists, or murdered in their innocence, I don't think that this is too harsh at all. States that have not passed Jessica's Law or something similar to it are Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Hawaii. Where most of my friends are, Nevada and California, legislation has been past. If you are in a state that is allowing judges to set free these criminals, please write to your representative and Governor. This works. A lot of the state Governors and Reps ignored or resisted getting this law on the books until public pressure mounted and forced them to do the right thing.