SACRAMENTO -- — Vowing to fight an order from the state's highest court, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and corrections officials Thursday defiantly began sending hundreds of freed sex offenders back to prison for violating strict residency requirements imposed by voters last year.
The California Supreme Court late Wednesday temporarily blocked the state from arresting four sex offenders who went to court in an effort to avert arrest under what is commonly known as Jessica's Law, which decrees that they must live more than 2,000 feet from schools, parks and other areas where children gather.
Though the justices indicated that they would decide the case within weeks, Schwarzenegger said the order would not halt the arrests of 850 other convicted sex offenders who have not complied with the residency rules.
"My administration will vigorously defend against challenges to Jessica's Law and protect the will of the people. I am disappointed with the court's order, but remain committed to the full implementation of Jessica's Law," the governor said in a statement. "I have directed my administration [to] put every available resource into enforcement."
Officials said they expect the arrests to take about two weeks.
Those facing arrest represent 17% of the more than 5,000 offenders who state officials say are subject to the 2,000-foot requirement because they have been on parole -- either for a recent sex crime or an old one coupled with a new non-sex crime -- since Proposition 83 was approved overwhelmingly last November.
Lawyers for the four petitioners, who were identified in court papers only by their initials, said that in light of the governor's decision, they would return to court as early as today to seek a broader order applying to everyone threatened with arrest.
"I think the governor should respect the court's process," said attorney Ernest Galvan of San Francisco. "It's not about public safety. It's about politics."
Corrections officials Thursday night said they had not yet tallied the number of offenders arrested on the first day.
One man was arrested while taking a class at the Sacramento North-Natomas Parole Office. Another offender in the area was handcuffed while visiting a friend and sent to jail; he had been living in an orange car on blocks inside a carport, 300 feet from a school field.
