PROP. 83 TO PROTECT POLITICIANS, NOT KIDS.

Byline: BETTY SCHNEIDER Local View

COME Nov. 7, California's ballot will offer Proposition 83, also known as Jessica's Law. As a result, gubernatorial candidates Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides are trying to one-up each other on the subject of child molestation, playing to public panic. And who loses if Proposition 83 wins? Many of the kids whom it purports to save.

Two major provisions of this initiative promise the same disaster now occurring in Iowa, where the law is being contested. One condition requires all ex-offenders to live at least 2,000 feet from the schools and parks that crowd our California cities.

The upshot would convert rural areas into dumping grounds for the entire spectrum of those who have offended: single-timers to serials, adolescents to veterans, abstainers to sadists. Not only would this uproot the majority deemed no-risk or low-risk; it would also transport high-risk types to other neighborhoods where kids are found.

It's well known among sex-offense experts that stress can trigger recidivism. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and contrary to widespread misconception, molesters have the lowest recidivism rates of any criminals except murderers. And a goodly number of former offenders who have turned their lives around -- with decent jobs, housing, family support and therapy -- would be wrenched away from that stability. Since this upheaval would likely result in high-stress levels for ex-offenders, what about the kids they would encounter in shaky new environments?

``There are a lot of flaws in this,'' says police Sgt. Ron Helder, who heads San Jose's much-emulated sex-offender monitoring team. ``This is less about protecting children than politics.''

Were we to duplicate the Iowa experience, at worst almost half of the ex-offenders may go underground, out of touch with parole officers as well as specialized therapy.

The fairly new field of sex-offender therapy already shows a 40 percent recovery rate, according to Dr. Karl Hanson, solicitor general of Canada. And as therapeutic techniques improve, the effectiveness can only increase. But with Jessica's Law withdrawing such help, Iowa's nightmare may gallop into the farms and forests of our state.

The other sharp thorn in Proposition 83 is the vaunted GPS ankle device, which can be easily removed and, like a cell phone, fail to transmit in remote areas. It is also useless for the 90 percent of molestations that take place in the homes of predators or prey. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, ankle gadgets would cost the state more than $400 million annually while misleading us with an illusion of safety.

Just seven weeks before the election, Schwarzenegger signed a far more reasonable bill that prohibits former offenders from loitering near schools and parks. Only those deemed highest risks would wear GPS monitors.

Yet, redundantly, he still backs the harsh and counterproductive Proposition 83, hoping for a few more votes based on emotion rather than logic. He may be underestimating the collective brainpower of California citizens.

Proposition 83 is a cynical political strategy, part of a national trend to crack down on molesters, even with laws that boomerang and strike the victims. Vote no. That's the only way to prevent uninformed and self- serving politicians from using innocents as pawns.