Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill into law Wednesday that would allow authorities to confine sex offenders who have finished their prison sentences until they have made progress in treatment.
According to a press release, Senate Bill 441 changes the standard required to put released sexual predators under civil commitment. Previously, prosecutors had to prove the offender was more likely than not to reoffend. Now courts may not order offenders released until the offender has made \substantial progress"" in treatment.
Doyle cited the bill as a way to help protect public safety.
""The purpose of this change is to keep sexual predators from being released while they are still likely to reoffend,"" Doyle said in a statement. ""Sexually violent persons will now remain in restricted setting until they have received treatment to reduce their threat to public safety.""
Additional legislation signed by Doyle increased access to sex offender databases by law enforcement officials.
State Sen. Gwendolyn Moore, D-Milwaukee, who worked on developing the new bill, said the law was a bipartisan attempt to protect the public from sexual predators.
""My involvement with the sex offender bill was to try to balance the constitutional rights of these sex offenders with public safety,"" she said. ""I think it's extremely important to put public safety at the forefront, partly since I don't think that medical science has given us some sort of cure for sexual predators.""
However, Jessica Harrison, a UW-Madison senior and publicity coordinator at the Campus Women's Center, said that education, rather than new laws, is the key to decreasing sex crimes.
""Anything we do is a step forward, but I feel like educating members of our society about how to work together to stop sexual assault is really where it's going to need to start,"" she said.
She added open dialogue and safe venues for people to talk about rape would also help their cause.
