SACRAMENTO — A registered sex offender who says he would be forced to move from his San Francisco home under a November ballot initiative wants to form a colony for himself and others who may be displaced if the measure passes.
Jake Goldenflame, an author who also leads support groups for sex felons, says Proposition 83 threatens to create chaos and wandering bands of rootless men by barring ex-offenders from living near schools and parks.
In a letter mailed this week to Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and state lawmakers, he suggested creating a refuge for sex offenders, perhaps at a former military base. He also asked that the Legislature delay enforcement of the initiative -- which enjoys a strong lead in the polls -- until such a colony could be established.
"It's very likely that this measure will pass, and when it does, sex offenders will face desperation," said Goldenflame, 69, who served a five-year prison term in the 1980s for molesting his daughter. "Most of those facing banishment will either go underground or go homeless. I'm trying to offer a humane alternative."
The initiative's chief sponsor, state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), called the proposal unnecessary. Runner said it was never his intent for Proposition 83 to uproot released sex offenders living in the community, though the measure's language does not specify that.
"If someone on their own wants to build a place for sex offenders to go live ... then have at it," Runner said. "But this idea is based on a faulty assumption that everybody will have to move. We don't think government can go in and kick someone out of his house."
Proposition 83 would give California some of the nation's strictest laws governing sex offenders, by increasing prison and parole terms for many crimes. Its most controversial provision would bar released offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park and permit local governments to make other locations, such as libraries or public swimming pools, off limits.
The initiative would also require released sex offenders to wear electronic tracking devices for life, regardless of their crime or level of dangerousness.
The measure, called Jessica's Law by proponents, resembles laws adopted or under consideration in many other states. The flurry of legislation was fueled in part by the kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford by a sex offender in Florida in 2005.
