From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary:

Judge to Californians: My Vote Trumps Yours

More than 70% of California voters passed "Jessica’s Law" last week, an initiative that prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park and requiring them to undergo lifetime satellite tracking. The measure carried all but one county, narrowly losing only in Nancy Pelosi’s home turf of San Francisco.

But it didn’t take more than a day for a federal judge from San Francisco to block its enforcement on the grounds it is likely to be found unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, ruling on a lawsuit filed early Wednesday, said the measure "is punitive by design and effect" and issued a temporary restraining order preventing the measure from taking effect. A lawsuit against the measure, filed on behalf of an anonymous sex offender, had charged that the law "effectively banishes John Doe from his home and community for a crime he committed, and paid his debt for, long ago."

I’m all for measures being given a full constitutional review, but voters will be excused for wondering why they even bother voting when a federal judge can block even preliminary steps to implement a measure within a day of its passage. Now the measure will be tied up in the courts for months. It would make much more sense to allow law enforcement officials to work out the logistics of how the measure might be implemented while at the same time the constitutional challenges proceed. Perhaps by the time judges finally heard the case, a workable plan to make the measure effective would be in place, thus limiting some of the constitutional objections.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 13th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.