You'd think, even in California, there would be some common ground between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the repercussions of sexually abusing children.
But the defeat of AB 2753 in the California Senate clearly shows there is not.
The bill would have prevented anyone on the state's sex offender list from serving in any public office in the state. It was even written by a Democrat: Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria.
It seems like this guy was the motivation behind the bill:
The State Assembly passed it unanimously.
However, the Democrats in the Senate would only pass the bill with one little caveat.
KCRA3 reports,
Lawmakers in the same committee advanced a separate bill, AB 2961, which prohibits individuals convicted of felony sex crimes from running for office β but primarily if the victims are adults. The committee watered down the bill, allowing people convicted of felony child sex crimes, such as rape and sodomy, to still run for positions like school board, city council, or state legislature.
Yes, you read that right.
They rejected the bill including all sex crimes and instead advanced one that included an exception for child molesters.
But the bill ended up dying. The bill hit the Senate Elections Committee, and reality, as California understands it, set in.
The vote resulted in a 2-1-2 tie that killed the measure. Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, the committee chair, wasn't thrilled with the "broad net" of the Assembly bill. He wanted it narrowed to only the worst Tier Three lifetime registrants. Soria, to her credit, said no thanks to watering it down and the whole thing died.
Here's State Senator Scott Wiener (you'll remember him for his progressive legislation on various social issues):
Yeah, I don't know if I even want to check his browsing history.
Esmeralda Soria spoke like a confused parent after the vote:
I'm extremely disappointed and I feel like I'm still trying to process what we just saw.
Same goes for all of us, Assemblymember Soria.
Sure seems like someone should be checking the computers of those "no" votes.
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