From Deseret News archives:
Keep Utah's sex offender law
On Friday, a Florida judge ruled that Couey's confession was inadmissible in court because his requests for legal representation were not granted by sheriff's deputies. In handing down the ruling the judge noted that Couey invoked his rights for counsel "no less than eight times in 46 seconds."
This was a gross violation of a bedrock principle of law. Fortunately, it appears that there is sufficient physical evidence to proceed to trial. Jessica Lunsford deserves justice.
This ruling will undoubtedly stir more emotion in this case, which has already brought about laws that dramatically enhance penalties for some sex offenders who target children, sometimes requiring lifetime electronic monitoring.
Emotion should not fuel these discussions, particularly as they pertain to Utah laws on sex offenders. Recently, a legislative committee compared Utah's laws to Florida's law, which calls for minimum mandatory sentences. Many state lawmakers are convinced that Utah's law is more workable and, for the most part, tougher than Jessica's Law.
Some states have instituted minimum mandatory sentences for sex offenders, something Utah abandoned in 1996 because they afford no flexibility to the system, they are costly, and they deter offenders from undergoing treatment. A broad-ranging sentence gives convicted sex offenders incentive to complete treatment. According to the Utah State Department of Corrections statistics, the rates of recidivism among convicted sex offenders who have completed a treatment program are low. Considering that most of these offenders eventually return to society, it is in everyone's best interest that they undergo therapy.
There are no guarantees, of course.
But there are valid reasons that Utah prosecutors, the Board of Pardons and Parole and prison officials argue on behalf of Utah's laws. Lawmakers need to stick with Utah's laws, in spite of what television commentators will say, because they're workable and in most respects superior to the cookie-cutter approach advocated by the talking heads.
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