Pass revised 'Jessica's Law'

If Rep. Carl Wimmer has a fault, it's his passion. As a sex-crimes detective, he wanted to make sure that perpetrators of sex offenses against children did hard time for their crimes. In the past, he enthusiastically supported Jessica's Law, which requires a mandatory 25-year prison sentence for these crimes. A nationwide movement, largely spurred by television commentator Bill O'Reilly, is under way to pass the bill in every state to honor the memory of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Florida in 2005.

Utah prosecutors, the state attorney general and the Utah Sentencing Commission, among others balked at the proposal, arguing that mandatory sentences tied the hands of prosecutors in establishing plea agreements, which spare already traumatized child victims from testifying at trial. Worse, mandatory sentences, as required under Jessica's Law, fly in the face of Utah's existing system of indeterminate sentencing.

Wimmer, a Republican representing Herriman, now takes a broader view of the unintended consequences of the cookie-cutter "Jessica's Law." He has worked with some of his staunchest opponents to craft a vastly improved bill that would establish the most severe criminal penalty under Utah law for child sex offenses, short of that for murder. But it gives prosecutors the needed flexibility to offer plea agreements in cases in which child victims or their parents do not want to testify in court.

Credit Wimmer for setting aside the emotion of the national drive to implement identical legislation in every state. Utah has been a hold-out, and for good reason — mandatory sentences can result in minimum justice for victims and defendants alike.

Utah already has some of the strongest laws in the nation against crimes of a sexual nature. This bill, HB256, would establish a sentence of no less than 25 years for rape, object rape or sodomy upon a child. This would be the most severe punishment on Utah's books, other than capital murder, which is punishable by life in prison without parole, life in prison with the possibility of parole or the death penalty. It ensures the worst offenders are locked up for a long time, but also provides needed flexibility to prosecutors to establish plea agreements, which is how the vast majority of criminal cases are handled. More importantly, it spares child victims the added trauma of facing an alleged sexual perpetrator in court. Seemingly, that's a far better tribute to Jessica Lunsford. Utah lawmakers should pass HB256.