CA: Bill to block registered sex offenders from local office rejected by Senate committee
California bill aimed at preventing registered sex offenders from holding local elected office was halted Tuesday after a Senate committee declined to advance the measure without changes opposed by its author.
Assembly Bill 2753, introduced by Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria in February, would have prohibited anyone who is or has been required to register as a sex offender from running for local elective office.
Opponents of the bill argued that candidacies should be decided by voters rather than restricted by law.
“It should be a decision made by the voters, so a person should not be barred from running for office and let the voters make the decision that makes the most sense for them,” said civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci.
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There is unfortunately no need for a such a law in Florida, since most persons forced to register have lost many of their civil rights (among them, the right to run for elected office in the state) and are neither eligible to vote nor to be elected to public office. Only the tiny few who have had their civil rights restored or had adjudication withheld would be eligible to run for public office under current Florida law.
Finally a little common sense prevails. Good work!
I have thought about it. But I have 3 daughters who know but would not want the embarrassment for them. BUT hear me when I say, just because we are socially crippled, does not mean we have to settle for the scraps.
I agree totally