[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1336-E1338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE NO SECOND CHANCES FOR MURDERERS, RAPISTS, OR CHILD MOLESTERS ACT OF
1998
______
HON. MATT SALMON
of arizona
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 16, 1998
Mr. SALMON. Mr. Speaker, more than 14,000 murders, rapes, and sexual
assaults on children are committed each year by individuals who have
been released into our neighborhoods after serving a prison sentence
for rape, murder, or child molestation. Think about it: every one of
these crimes is preventable. These perpetrators were behind bars,
convicted of heinous crimes, yet were released to prey on the
population again. This is unconscionable, indefensible, and must stop.
I am committed to seeing that it stops, which is why today I am
introducing the ``No Second Chances For Murderers, Rapists, or Child
Molesters Act.'' The legislation will encourage States to keep the most
violent offenders off of the streets.
Public safety demands that we keep these people behind bars. Second
chances may be fine for a petty thief. However, I don't believe that
individuals who have murdered, raped, or molested a child, should have
the opportunity to repeat their criminal behavior.
We can prevent the repeat carnage if we simply have the will to keep
these offenders in prison for life. It may be stating the obvious, but
the fact is that last year, not a single murderer, rapist, or child
molester in prison victimized an innocent person in the community.
Unfortunately, all too many who were released went on to commit these
brutal crimes again.
Among the crimes committed by released recidivists were these
senseless tragedies:
In 1997, Arthur J. Bomar Jr. was charged in Pennsylvania with the
rape and murder of George Mason University star athlete, Aimee Willard.
Bomar had been paroled in 1990 from a Nevada prison, following an
eleven year stint in prison for murder. Even in prison he had a record
of violence. Bomar is also being investigated for involvement in at
least two other homicides that followed his release.
Laurence Singleton raped and physically mutilated Mary Vincent in
California. She showed extraordinary courage and perseverance by
surviving the attack and working for his conviction. He was sent to
jail, where he should have stayed. Yet because of weaknesses in our
criminal justice system, he was later released, and he murdered Roxanne
Hayes in Florida. Again in large measure because of Ms. Vincent's
efforts, Singleton was recently sentenced to death in Florida.
Robert Simon killed his girlfriend for refusing to engage in sexual
relations with his motorcycle gang. For this crime, Simon spent 12
years in a Pennsylvania prison. Eleven weeks after he was paroled, he
was arrested for killing a New Jersey police officer, Ippolito ``Lee''
Gonzalez. A New Jersey jury would later sentence Simon to death for
this crime. The judge who had sentenced Simon in Pennsylvania on his
first murder conviction, had written to the state parole board that
Simon ``should never
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see the light of day in Pennsylvania or any other place in the free
world.''
Reginald McFadden killed an elderly women in Philadelphia by binding
her face with tape and suffocating her. After 25 years in prison he was
paroled. three weeks after his parole, McFadden went on a crime spree
in New York. McFadden murdered three people, and raped, assaulted, and
held hostage a fourth. The survivor of the one man crime wave, Ms.
Jeremy Brown, offered courageous testimony that helped to convince
jurors to convict McFadden. After the conviction, Ms. Brown said:
``McFadden was given a second chance, for some inexplicable reason, and
now we have to pay for it.''
Gregory Bolin was convicted in Colorado for raping two women. Paroled
once, he returned to prison after armed assault. Then, two weeks after
being released prematurely for the second time, he moved to Nevada and
kidnapped, raped, beat, and finally murdered a 21-year-old woman,
Brooklyn Ricks. The prosecution argued that the one lesson Bolin
learned during his incarceration was not to leave witnesses to his sex
crimes. A Nevada jury sentenced Bolin to death for the murder of Ricks.
Released murderers, rapists, and child molesters are more likely to
re-commit the same offense than the general prison population. Released
murderers are almost five times more likely than other ex-convicts to
be rearrested for murder. Released rapists are 10.5 times more likely
than non-rapist offenders to have a subsequent arrest for rape.
Astonishingly, a recent Department of Justice study revealed that
134,300 convicted child molesters and other sex offenders are currently
living in our neighborhoods across America.
Sentences for these crimes, particularly sex crimes against women and
children, are incredibly weak. The average actual time served by men
after conviction for rape is just 4 years, 9 months. For sexual assault
(including molestation, forcible sodomy, lewd acts with children,
etc.), it is just 2 years 9 months. Moreover, fully 13% of convicted
rapists receive no jail time. Following the tragic death of nine-year-
old Megan Kanka, who was killed by a released, convicted child
molester, Congress and state legislatures have recognized the rights of
families to be aware of child molesters in their midst. Through Megan's
Law and its policies of sex offender registration and community
notification, citizens have been empowered to take measures to protect
themselves. Now we should build on Megan's Law by keeping these
dangerous criminals out of our neighborhoods entirely.
Ten years ago, a parent had no right to be notified that a convicted
child molester lived next door. Now, many want more than notification
that dangerous child molesters are in their neighborhoods and near
their schools. They want to live free from convicted sex offenders.
Let's keep every molester behind bars so we don't have to have more
tears, more memorial services, and more child victims. I repeat: every
crime committed by a released child molester is preventable. And to
those who disagree, a simple challenge: you explain to the victims of
pedophilia why imprisoned child molesters, who have the highest rates
of recidivism, should ever be set free to victimize innocent children
again. Given that criminals with electronic monitors have raped while
wearing the tracking devices, it is foolhardy to hope that registration
alone can prevent subsequent depraved acts.
I want to change the nature of the debate. To encourage states to
keep sex offenders and murderers in prison where they belong, I am
introducing the ``No Second Chances for Murderers, Rapists, or Child
Molesters Act of 1998.'' The legislation would enact a simple process:
if a state releases a murderer, rapist, or child molester and that
criminal goes on to commit one of those crimes in another state, the
state that released the criminal will compensate the second state and
the victim of the later crime. Specifically, the Attorney General,
using federal law enforcement funds, would transfer the second state's
cost of apprehension, prosecution, and incarceration of the criminal
from the state that released the criminal to the second state. Half of
the amounts transferred would be deposited in the state's crime
victims' fund, and half would be deposited in the state account that
collects federal law enforcement funds. Additionally, the proposal
provides $100,000 to the victims of the subsequent attack.
The No Second Chances bill is an appropriate exercise of federal
authority. It specifically leaves to the states those cases in which a
recidivist strikes again in the same state. But states are helpless in
preventing many crimes that occur because other states, with weaker
laws, allow their released criminals to return to the streets to commit
more crimes. This bill alerts states that they will assume a financial
risk when they release the most violent felons back into society. Only
states that do not take measurers to eliminate interstate recidivism
among killers, rapists, and child sex predators will suffer. States
that have enacted tough criminal laws should not have to pay for the
costs of another state's failure to keep a dangerous offender behind
bars.
States can reverse the misguided policy of releasing dangerous sex
offenders today. (Some notorious child molesters have publicly admitted
that they will terrorize young children again if released into
society.) The Supreme Court has ruled that a dangerous sex offender may
be kept in custody past the expiration of his sentence. A permanent
solution would be for the states to pass laws that mandate lifetime
incarceration (or the death penalty) for murderers, rapists and child
molesters.
Finally, to ensure that Federal law is consistent with the changes we
are encouraging the States to make, the legislation instructs the
United States Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines to provide that whoever is guilty of murder, rape, or
unwanted sexual acts against a child shall be punished by imprisonment
for life (or by the death penalty, in the case of murder).
We know that the one sure-fire way to prevent crime is to keep
criminals in jail. The investment in prisons during the 1980s may be
the most important factor in the declining crime rate Americans have
experienced during much of the 1990s. We spend about $102 per person
annually--27 cents a day--on federal, state, and local correction
facilities, less than we spend on cable television. What is a couple of
additional cents compared to a life taken too early, the permanent
damage to a woman raped or a child molested? And let's not forget that
society has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars in
investigating, prosecuting, and incarcerating these criminals in the
first place (not to mention the cost to the original victims).
Before I close, I would like to dedicate this bill to all of those
who participated in today's bill introduction ceremony and the memory
of those they lost. I am touched that people would come from all across
the country to express support for the No Second Chances Bill.
Gail Willard from Pennsylvania, mother of Aimee, has galvanized
support for the recidivism measure, which I also refer to as ``Aimee's
Law.''
The assistance of one of the truly courageous people on this planet,
Mary Vincent, as well as that of her attorney, Mark Edwards, has been
instrumental in putting together the No Second Chances bill.
Jeremy Brown from New York, the rape survivor whose attacker murdered
three others and raped her after being released from a murder sentence
in Pennsylvania, has also been active in the process of crafting the
legislation.
Louis Gonzales from New Jersey, brother of Ippolito, has been a
tremendous help in convincing others to support this effort.
Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was molested and murdered by a
released molester, has been successful in lobbying for the passage of
important criminal justice reforms on the state and federal level. His
participation in this effort is very much appreciated.
Fred Goldman, whose son Ron was murdered, has been a leader in the
victims' rights movement. He has helped us gather support for the bill.
Mika Moulten from Illinois, mother of a beautiful boy Christopher, a
10 year-old molested and murdered by a released child molester and
killer, has inspired me with her dedication to improve our nation's
criminal justice system.
And Carol and Roger Fornoff from my state of Arizona, parents of
Christy Ann, a 13-year-old girl who was raped and murdered while she
was delivering newspapers, have generously offered their help to pass
the No Second Changes Bill. Carol and Roger led a successful crusade in
Arizona to increase sentences for those who attack children.
I also thank Officer Lou Cannon from the Fraternal Order of Police;
and Sara O'Meara, Yvonne Fedderson, and Mariam Bell, the founders of
Childhelp USA, for their support. It is a great honor to have the
support of the nation's preeminent law enforcement organization and the
leading child abuse and prevention organization.
Finally, I want to offer my thanks to Steve Twist of Arizona for all
of his assistance in drafting the No Second Chances Act. There are few
people in the country that have Steve's grasp of the state and federal
criminal code.
The most important function of government is to protect the public
safety. It is immoral for criminals convicted of the most serious
crimes, and already behind bars, ever to be given a second chance to
prey upon the innocent. The enactment of the No Second Chances measure
would help government meet its fundamental obligation to every man,
woman and child in America.
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