Nussle proposes tracking devices?

[amesdem]

What is this going to do, there are no laws about where sex offenders can travel. Only laws regarding how far sex offenders can live from schools, daycares, etc. This guy is a moron!!! What's next tracking every criminal? Where is our sense of decency? No wonder our national deficit is so high, why doesn't he propose a forward military installation on the moon (Moonbase) to prevent intergallactic wars?



Nussle proposes GPS tracking for sex offenders

By THOMAS BEAUMONT
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

November 30, 2005


Police in Iowa should be allowed to track in real time the movements of people convicted of sexual abuse against children, Jim Nussle, a candidate for governor, said Tuesday.

The Manchester Republican said the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to hear a challenge to Iowa's residency restriction for people convicted of sex crimes against children opens the door to stricter surveillance of released offenders.

Nussle said his proposal to use Global Positioning System technology would allow police to keep tabs on offenders' movements in their community, as well as knowing when offenders violate the law barring them from living within 2,000 feet of schools and child-care centers.

"The 2,000-foot rule is not enough," Nussle said.

He said the technology would alert police when an offender, fitted with a tracking device, appeared within 2,000 feet of a school or playground.

Nussle's opponent, Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats, agreed that state-of-the-art technology was useful, but he referred to Nussle's proposal as "reactionary" and "neglecting measures of prevention."

Vander Plaats, also a Republican, has said he believes pornography is a cause of sex crimes, and he would seek to tax and regulate materials, including Internet pornography, in Iowa.

Nussle estimated the cost for his plan, modeled on programs in California and Florida, at $3 million to $5 million annually.

"It sounds an alarm to law enforcement to give them the ability to go and track the movements to find out what's going on," he said.

Lawmakers approved money for electronic monitoring of convicted sex offenders this year, but some were surprised to learn that none of the equipment is used to track them in real time.

Nussle's plan dovetails with a proposal up for discussion today that would restrict offenders convicted of sex abuse against children from loitering near schools and playgrounds.

Modeled on an Illinois law, the proposal would be Iowa's first attempt to restrict convicted sex offenders' movements.

Sen. Keith Kreiman, co-chairman of the committee studying changes in sex crime laws, expected the measure to be recommended by the bipartisan panel. It also would require offenders to give notice in advance of business at schools, said Kreiman, a Bloomfield Democrat.

A state legal watchdog group said officials should determine who warrants around-the-clock monitoring before painting all offenders with the same brush.

"We need to target those who present the greatest risk," said Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union. "Don't label everyone the same because it's not an effective use of either police time or taxpayer resources."

[ISUGRADIA]

1. VP and Nussle in the moron competition!

"Vander Plaats, also a Republican, has said he believes pornography is a cause of sex crimes, and he would seek to tax and regulate materials, including Internet pornography, in Iowa."

Too bad no legitimate research shows this to be the case. But it feeds into the religious right voters of the state so what the hell, truth be damned.

[Hobarticus]

2. Even if it IS a good idea, how you gonna pay for it?

You've emptied the US Treasury to line the pockets of the well-off...is that your plan for Iowa, too?

On edit: to clarify, this is a crappy 1984-esque idea. My point is, if he intends to take his DC act back home, we'll be bankrupt. Hope China wants to floats our state's debt, too.

[IA_Seth]

3. Fallon?

Can someone help me distinguish between what Nussle is proposing here and something that Fallon proposed earlier this year? Perhaps Fallon was thinking of this on a more limited scale?

http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2005/10/15/state/doc435088160dc0d761442975.txt

Fallon, who was one of the only opponents of the law in 2002, said the state could do a better job of protecting children by doing constant electronic monitoring of offenders and focusing more resources on the people who are most likely to re-offend.

“I think the discussion needs to be about how we protect society from the most dangerous sex offenders, the 15 percent who are most likely to re-offend, the type that do make the papers and do crazy stuff like abduct a kid in a library. Those are the people we need to protect ourselves against,” he said in an interview after the “Iowa Press” taping.

[amesdem]

4. Thanks

I had no idea Fallon and Nussle are on the same level when deciding to midhandle and poorly allocate state funds. I guess it just affirms my beliefs about both of them.

Thanks for the article seth!

[IA_Seth]

5. Lol

And who would have believed Nussle and Fallon would be thinking along same lines policy-wise?

Next thing you know Kucinich will be asking Steve King for advice..

Just kiddin Maggie, we know Kucinich is a good guy!