Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sex offender license plates one step closer to becoming law
MADISON, Wis. — Bright green license plates would identify Wisconsin’s worst sex offenders under a bill that moved a step closer Wednesday to becoming law.
The Republican-backed measure cleared the Assembly Criminal Justice Committee on an 8-3 vote, with opponents saying marking cars driven by serious child molesters and sexually violent offenders was unconstitutional.
Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, a former judge, suggested the proposal should be named “Hester’s Law” after the adulteress Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” who is forced to wear a red letter “A” because of her crime.
If the goal is to protect children, Kessler facetiously suggested having offenders wear a patch or badge to identify them as a danger.
Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, who introduced the bill, said the license plates would help children avoid being the victim of a crime. He noted that while most children are sexually assaulted by a family member or someone they know, many sex offenders use their cars to commit crimes, driving to see someone they met online or prowling parks and schools.
Under the bill, the bright green license plates would be attached to offenders’ cars and trucks upon their release from prison. Kleefisch said he picked green, or chartreuse to be exact, because children associate it with Mr. Yuk, a poison warning symbol.
Offenders would have to cover the $30 cost of the plates, which would be required as long as they were on global positioning system tracking. A state law that takes effect in July requires lifetime GPS tracking for serious child molesters and sexually violent predators — that means they would have to use the plates as long as they drove.
About 1,000 people would be required to have the plates, but that number would increase over time as more offenders are added, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Anyone who is required to have the plates but doesn’t install them would be subject to $25,000 in fines and up to 10 years in prison.
A similar license plate bill is pending in Ohio and it has the support of Gov. Ted Strickland.
The Wisconsin bill has a long way to go before it would become law. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has not reviewed the bill but supports other techniques to deal with sex offenders, such as GPS tracking, his spokesman Matt Canter said.
Before the bill gets to Doyle, it would have to clear the Republican-controlled Assembly and the Democratic-led Senate.
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