Sen. Brady disappointed committee would not advance 'Jessica's Law'         

[March 14, 2007]  SPRINGFIELD -- A week after a Florida jury found a convicted sex offender guilty of murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Democratic members of the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee refused on Tuesday to advance legislation, based on "Jessica's Law," to protect children from sexual predators.

Sponsored by state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, Senate Bill 288 would strengthen Illinois law to keep the worst predators off the streets and away from children. Brady says he is disappointed that Democratic lawmakers would not advance his legislation out of the committee to the full Senate for a vote.

"Two years ago, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender. Florida lawmakers passed Jessica's Law in 2005, and a number of other states have passed tougher laws targeting sexual predators who prey on children," Brady said. "Just last week, on March 7, convicted sex offender John Couey was found guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica. I am very disappointed that the committee would not support my efforts to strengthen Illinois' criminal laws and better protect our children."

The 44th District senator said some of the provisions of Jessica's Law are already found in Illinois law, but his legislation would add stronger sentencing and monitoring guidelines.

Senate Bill 288 would mandate that offenders found guilty of predatory sexual assault of a child are incarcerated and off the streets for a minimum of 30 years. It would remove good-time credit for most sex offenders unless they successfully complete sex offender counseling under the supervision and control of the Department of Corrections. It would require global positioning system monitoring for sexually violent offenders in order to track some of the state's worse offenders. It would make criminal sexual assault a Class X felony if the rapist has previously been convicted of any sex offense. Currently, it is only a Class X felony if the offender had been previously convicted of criminal sexual assault.

Brady said that more than 20 states have enacted provisions of Jessica's Law.

[Text from news release sent on behalf of Sen. Bill Brady and received from Illinois Senate Republican staff]