Proposed CA Bill Would Create Domestic Offender Database

AMuse writes "The Ledger brings us a New York Times report that a newly proposed bill would create a web-searchable database of persons convicted of domestic violence. Fiona Ma, the bill's author, claims: 'If you're online, Googling and looking for information on someone you met in a bar or on MySpace, this would provide a tool for people to go and look to see if someone who is suspicious and a little creepy has a history of violence.' Is this evidence that the opponents of Megan's Law are correct, and sooner or later all of one's run-ins with the law will be searchable by the public?"

Comments

City By The Sea

[QuantumG]

In "City By The Sea", there's a scene where Robert De Niro's character is layout out his history to his new girlfriend. He was married, but is now divorced, and has a son who hates him because his ex-wife has "done a number on him". Among other things, she calls him a wife beater. He explains that he "lost control" once, and that was the day he decided they needed to get divorced. There's never an excuse to beat up on a woman, but there's a difference between a habitual wife beater and someone who falls victim to their rage, recognizes there is a problem and gets the hell out. Domestic violence laws don't take that stuff into account.. and that's the problem with profiling people.

Devil's Advocate

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this evidence that the opponents of Megan's Law are correct, and sooner or later all of one's run-ins with the law will be searchable by the public?

Perhaps they should be? Is a criminal record supposed to be secret? If so, then who are we trying to protect with such secrecy?

Or better yet

[VanillaBabies]

'If you're online, Googling and looking for information on someone you met in a bar or on MySpace, this would provide a tool for people to go and look to see if someone who is suspicious and a little creepy has a history of violence.' You could act like an adult, make an informed decision based on the information you have, and its a done deal. No legislation required to prevent bad things from happening to stupid people!

Re:Over the Top

[etymxris]

I think the reverse is true. DV perpetrators tend to have anti-social personality disorder. No, that doesn't mean they are shut-ins. Those with anti-social disorder have little trouble forming relationships, partly because they have no remorse about lying. They are very good about putting on a convincing face, and then turning violent and abusive once the relationship becomes serious.

DV victims, on the other hand, tend to stay with those who abuse them. It's often the girlfriend/wife with black eyes that comes and bails out the abuser. If a database like the one proposed existed, then it could be used to pierce the facade that abusers put forth. And it could also help friends with suspicions to convince the woman the man is not as he presents himself.

Sex offenders, on the other hand, are usually incestuous, and the recidivism rate for these offenders is quite low, especially compared to the general prison population. Jump out of the bushes type of offenders are quite rare, and these people do have much higher recidivism rates.

Anecdotally, my first stepfather was physically abusive to my mother, and my second sexually abused my sister. The first, after spending time in jail for assaulting my mother and grandmother, managed to start a whole new family. Eventually, he burned down their house in an attempt to kill all of them. Luckily it was not successful. The second stepfather, after serving his sentence, does pretty much nothing except for the type of menial work a person of his status can get, spending his evenings watching TV. I don't really see him as much of a threat, not that I'd want to hang out with him.

Re:There are some people who need this info...

[networkBoy]

Grab your pitchforks boys!
It's mob response time!

Witnessed an argument between "some guy" and a woman (lives near the in-laws).
In the yelling that ensued (which I could hear clearly over the *lawn mower*) I learned that she did not want him near her kids because he was on the megan's law web site. He countered that her kids were the problem.
After the cops arrived no-one went to jail but he was "talked to" and she was issued a citation. I asked one of the cops what happened, as I was interested in my neighborhood remaining peaceful.

Long story short, lady's kids were browsing the megans law website looking for people to harass!?!? and since this guy lived down the street they started on him. I already knew he was on the site and asked the cop what his crime was. Date rape.
Not pedophilia, nothing with a minor... So why was this lady so much of an ass to the guy? Because he was on the "evil list" and that's all she needed to know. The ticket was:

Legal and Illegal Uses. The information on this web site is made available solely to protect the public. Anyone who uses this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability. Any person who is required to register pursuant to Penal Code section 290 who enters this web site is punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. (Pen. Code, 290.46, subd. (h)(2).) For the record I like the Megan's law site because I have two young kids. When I recently moved my family I ensured that where we moved to was free of "with child under 14" type predators. Guy down the street with a date rape, nonviolent, is not my concern till the kids are older.
-nB