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Iowa Keeps Hawkeye On Sex Offenders
by Chloe Albanesius
Iowa on Tuesday joined the growing number of states that have enacted stricter laws for monitoring convicted sex offenders. Gov. Tom Vilsack signed a bill that provides for a DNA database of felons and the electronic monitoring of released offenders who register with the state.
"Today, we take an important step in better securing our children from sexual predators," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "With the toughest law in the country, there will be stiffer penalties for a first offense and life in prison for the second offense. With this new law, we should improve our efforts to keep track of offenders."
The bill, H.F. 619, also lowers the age threshold for sex crimes from 18 to 16 and requires lifetime prison sentences for those convicted of second offenses.
In other news, the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation on Monday announced that it served more than 50 search warrants last week in an effort to combat the growing popularity of trading child pornography on file-sharing networks.
"Those who trade in child pornography exploit children and seek to make a profit off of their victims' pain," Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. "Using technology and good cooperation with local and federal law enforcement ... agents have been able to bust dozens of suspects who thought they were safe sitting behind a computer screen."
Ten of the 58 search warrants have resulted in arrests, Cooper said.
The move comes days after the North Carolina House approved a bill that would make it a felony to solicit minors -- or officers posing as minors -- over the Internet. Under current law, predators who proposition officers they believe are minors are only charged with a misdemeanor.
Under the legislation, S.B. 472, convicted online predators also would have to register with the state sex-offender database and submit DNA samples.
"We know that child predators are cruising the Internet in search of their next victims," Cooper said. "This law will encourage law enforcement officers to go online and catch these criminals before they hurt our children."
Cooper also has requested that state lawmakers expand the State Bureau of Investigation's computer-crimes unit and hire three additional computer-forensics experts.
In Oregon, the attorney general's office last week began targeting predators who use the Internet to solicit children. The state's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, housed within its Justice Department, built a Web site intended to provide parents and children with tools to protect themselves online.
ICAC also has produced a training course and materials that provide information on safe Web practices and how to react if solicited by potential sexual predators.
"The unprecedented and alarming explosion of sexual exploitation of our children on the Internet, as well as the steady increase in child pornography, must be met head on," Attorney General Hardy Myers said in a statement.
And in Florida, Attorney General Charlie Crist, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, on Friday praised the state legislature for creating a cyber-crimes unit within his office but pushed for more aggressive action. Recently enacted monitoring legislation is "helpful" but it does not go far enough, he wrote in his weekly e-newsletter.
"Using ankle bracelets with [global positioning satellite] technology to track sex offenders will let us know where they are, but it will not prevent them from committing more crimes," he wrote. "The only way to make sure they do not ruin the lives of more young children is to keep them locked up in the first place. Tracking bracelets are good -- but prison bars are better."
Safety Coalition Endorses Spectrum Bill
The District of Columbia's Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety on Tuesday praised Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., for introducing legislation that would provide public-safety organizations access to spectrum by Jan. 1, 2009.
Their legislation "meets critical spectrum needs," coalition representative and District Deputy Chief Technology Officer Robert LeGrande said in a statement.
In addition to setting a "hard date" for broadcasters to switch from analog to digital signals in order to free desired spectrum, the bill also would let officials delay spectrum auctions until public-safety issues are met. That step would foster a "full evaluation" of needs, LeGrande said.
McCain urged Congress to take action "before another national emergency or crisis takes place."
Gov. Blagojevich Signs Internet-Related Bills
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday signed legislation that requires the state's Public Health Department to post on its Web site the average charges for 30 procedures performed at outpatient surgery centers.
"Consumers have a right to know how much medical procedures cost and how much experience medical facilities have in performing the procedures," the Democratic governor said in a statement.
Under the measure, H.B. 2343, the department must immediately start collecting data so that information can go online by 2006.
The governor also signed a bill, H.B. 873, that will let people sell tickets for sporting and entertainment events at inflated rates via the Internet. It was illegal to scalp tickets at more than their face value. Under the law, ticket auctions must be registered with the Financial and Professional Regulation Department.
Court OKs Minnesota Virtual School
Minnesota's virtual education efforts will be able to continue after the state Court of Appeals ruled last week that Minnesota's Education Department adequately certified the Houston Virtual Academy.
At issue was a 2003 lawsuit brought by Education Minnesota, a teachers' union that accused the virtual school of violating state law by allowing uncertified parents to teach their children. A 2nd Judicial Court judge ruled that the certification process followed procedure and dismissed Education Minnesota's case. The Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.
In other news, The Capital Times reports that Dane County Circuit Judge Bill Foust in Wisconsin last week ruled that Elections Board Executive Director Kevin Kennedy did not have the right to independently award a $13.9 million election database contract to Accenture. The state board, however, which retroactively approved Kennedy's move, did have the authority to approve such awards, so the contract will remain intact.
Va. City Approves Tax On Cell Phones
The city of Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday approved a tax on cellular telephone service as part of its fiscal 2006 budget. The Washington Post reports that the $3-per-month levy aims to help the city recoup revenue lost when it lowered its real-estate tax rate.
In other news, The Town Talk reports that Alexandria, La., Police Chief Daren Coutee is pushing a plan to install cameras at different points as a crime deterrent. "We have to get into the 21st century; the criminals are," he said Wednesday.
The plan, however, is drawing fire from the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union, which says the effort could be an invasion of privacy.
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