Senate Rules Committee chairman Robert Blendu continues to hold two House sex-crime bills, saying one does not go far enough and the other may well be unconstitutional.

Mr. Blendu, R-12, says H2304, which reclassifies spousal rape as a more serious felony, should be even stricter, and that H2418, which could limit the number of registered, high-risk sex offenders living in one neighborhood, is a magnet for a lawsuit.

Mr. Blendu’s decision to hold the bills was supported by Senate President Ken Bennett, R-1. And Senate Rules Attorney Joni Hoffman says the constitutionality of providing sanctions on landlords who rent to sex offenders is legally questionable.

“It’s groundbreaking,” Ms. Hoffman said of the bill, adding that several court cases in other states could spell trouble for such legislation. “There’s no other law like it in the country.”

Discharge Petition

Sponsors and supporters of the bills held a news conference April 26 to protest Mr. Blendu’s actions and said they may circulate discharge petitions to force Mr. Blendu to release the bills for floor debate. Such petitions require signatures of at least 18 senators (three-fifths of the Senate).

Mr. Blendu said that would bother him. “I’d mind,” he said. “I take those things personally, but that’s part of the process…”

The spousal rape bill, sponsored by Rep. Clancy Jayne, R-6, went through four committees and the full House without opposition. It would reclassify the crime to a class 4 felony from class 6, which would increase the maximum penalty for the first offense to three years from 18 months and would retain the current requirement for the spouse to register as a sex offender.

“The Legislature needs to make a stand for the women of Arizona,” Mr. Jayne said at the news conference. “If [the bill] affects my political career, so be it.”

Mr. Blendu said the felony of spousal rape should be class 2, the second highest classification. It carries a maximum 14-year prison term for the first offense.

As passed by the House, the bill “doesn’t say a rape is a rape is a rape,” Mr. Blendu said, adding rhetorically, “Why don’t we have that bill?”

A judge may reduce even a class 4 felony to a misdemeanor, he said, and the House bill evolved from one court case in which the judge made a sentencing error.

“[The plaintiff in the case] wants the law changed because her husband got to go to some class or probation or whatever,” he said, “when the minimum sentencing guide for what he was convicted of should sent him to prison for a year.”

Bill Hart of Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence said the state’s spousal rape law is “morally objectionable and legally indefensible,” and its penalties are no harsher than for “organizing a dog fight.”

Slum Property

The other bill, H2418, would classify as slum property most rental housing where three registered sex offenders live or where more than 10 per cent of the tenants are registered sex offenders. It also provides for a $10,000 fine, plus $5,000 per month for each month the property remains under the new slum definition.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said renting to registered sex offenders “has become a cottage industry.”

He agreed that a slum designation would put pressure on landlords and probation officers, who would be faced with helping sex offenders find different housing, but, he said, “There are unscrupulous landlords making a business out of renting to sex offenders.”

10,000 Registered Sex Offenders In Arizona

The principal sponsor of H2418, Rep. Deb Gullett, R-11, said there are 10,000 registered sex offenders in Arizona and that “We are targeting the worst of the worst. As a landlord, you don’t have a right to be a slumlord.”

Her bill passed the House 43-14.

“The thinking on this bill has been one inch deep,” Mr. Blendu said. “I have a lot of committee members who have heartburn about it.

“Not one piece of evidence indicates that if we split these people up that our children will be safer. “What if we find out after the fact that our children were safer when they [sex offenders] were clustered? I think it would be absolutely irresponsible to forward this flawed piece of legislation to the governor and have her sign it, knowing it would be tied up in the courts for years, and those guys would still be living in the apartments, and nothing’s changed.”

Mr. Blendu said he has requested an opinion from the Phoenix city attorney about the constitutionality of the bill.

Any chairman can hold a bill, but as with everything in politics, there are political risks.

Earlier this session, for example, Mr. Blendu denied a request from Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-8, to hold the abortion waiting-period bill (S1077) in Rules. In retaliation, Ms. Allen held a Blendu bill, S1065, in her Health Committee. His bill would have required large employers with employees on AHCCCS to repay the state for their care.—