Jessica's Law

Jessica’s Law was an initiative that passed in November 2006. The initiative was Proposition 83 and it targeted sex offenders in an effort to keep them away from children.

Here are a few components of the initiative:

There were other changes as well, but the initiative as a whole served to increase punishment of sex offenders. In 2015, California relaxed certain provisions under Jessica’s Law, as it decided to remove the blanket restrictions on all sex offenders, and evaluate each on a case-by- case basis. Those sex offenders whose crimes were committed on adults will not be forced out of school zone areas. The California Supreme Court ruled that the blanket restrictions violated the constitutional rights of parolees. Jessica’s law initially left many sex offenders homeless, which makes them harder to track and increases their odds of repeat offending. So while Jessica’s Law carried harsh punishments for sex offenders, the courts have revised them where appropriate.

Information obtained from The Los Angeles Times andBallotpedia.