As a recent eruption between members of the House Oversight Committee demonstrated, Congress doesn’t always model good behavior. But beyond the theatrics and gridlock that make headlines, many Americans might be pleasantly surprised to find encouraging examples of serious lawmakers working together.
The bipartisan Safer Supervision Act is just that. The legislation, co-authored by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), aligns with the research on what works to make communities safer and provide second chances, building on the success of the First Step Act, on which a Democratic Congress and President Donald Trump found consensus.
The Safer Supervision Act, which is also encapsulated in similarly bipartisan House companion legislation co-authored by Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), parallels effective state reforms demonstrating that the success of probation and parole should not be measured by how many years someone serves. Instead, the benchmark must be whether the person desists from crime and emerges better able to positively contribute to their community. If a person on probation or parole can hold a job or care for their children, that strengthens our economic and social fabric.
Let me guess those people convicted of sex offenses are excluded even though they include people who have been offense free for years or decades, yet are still forced to register and be shunned by Washington and society. You lawmakers made sex offenses a hot issue back in the 1990s and now you don’t have the guts to face the fubar you all made.
The article mentions Missouri as one of 20 states to adopt this “earned compliance credit” model which had a positive effect on reducing probation rolls in the state. So the Doc decided to do some digging, because we always have that one nagging question when any reform gets done: Does it exclude those on the registry? Well, in a way the Missouri model does, but not blatantly. Since only Class D or E felonies are eligible for the program, most child sex offenses are excluded since they’re mostly high felonies in Missouri. This info involves adults 21 & over. Ineligible are all degrees of child molestation, all degrees of statutory rape unless the minor is between 14 & 17–that would be Class D statutory rape in the 2nd degree which makes the offense eligible. Under 14 is Class A statutory rape in the 1st degree, so all bets are off. As far as cyber crimes–it depends on the number of images & age of the child. In order to keep those offenses at Class D, a person can’t possess more than 1 image (defendants always have more than 1) and the subject in the image can’t be under 14–that would be Class B sexual exploitation. One also can’t be promoting or distributing. The only sex offenses that fall at the low end are attempted child enticement “talk to a cop” offenses involving any age. So that’s it for Missouri. I would count on most sex offenses not qualifying for early release unless it involves child enticement & statutory rape over 13.