Recent child abduction-murders have riveted national attention again on the problem of convicted sex offenders. In Florida, Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, abused and buried alive by a repeat sex offender. An Idaho girl was recently freed from a serial sex offender. This pedophile now stands accused of kidnapping, sexual abuse and the murder of the girl's Idaho family.

Closer to home, outraged San Diegans protested the planned release of sex offender Douglas Badger to their community. The District Attorney's Office successfully prevented the release of Badger, for now. Badger's psychologist filed a favorable recommendation to the court but was compromised by a personal relationship with another convicted sex offender.

In Riverside County, residents in Mead Valley have been staging protests against a nearby halfway house that is home to an assortment of convicted sex offenders. Fuelling these protests was news that David Allyn Dokich resides at this home for deviants. Dokich was convicted of forceably assaulting two teenage girls yet spent only half of his 35-year sentence in prison.

It's frequently said that the government that responds best to the people is local government. There is much truth in this, as San Diego County and Riverside County officials responded quickly by challenging the release of criminal perverts to our communities. It is our government at the state level that has broken down.

It's apparent that many California state legislators simply prefer catch-and-release programs for rapists and pedophiles. A few months ago, state Senate Democrats buried Senate Bill 722 requiring lifetime monitoring of convicted sex offenders with Global Positioning Systems. This bill mirrors the recently enacted Florida law named after murdered Jessica Lunsford.

Other failed bills in the Legislature include SB 43 which would require posting offenders convicted of child pornography on the Megan's Law Web site and SB 277, which would prohibit paroled sex offenders from living within 1 1/2 miles of a park, playground or school.

These seem like pretty common sense measures. But not to recalcitrant Democrats who seem more interested in doing the bidding of the ACLU.

Many California legislators have to be dragged kicking and screaming by outraged parents and citizens to enact tougher laws against criminal sexual predators. After years of lobbying, Sacramento grudgingly approved a Megan's Law database on the Internet. Public outrage that 137 sex offenders received Viagra prescriptions through Medi-Cal quickly terminated that program.

What is missing from Sacramento is the vision and innovation to enact tough criminal statutes dealing with these predators. Instead of setting the tone for the rest of the nation, California now simply drags its feet and enacts weakened versions of sex offender laws pioneered elsewhere. Sacramento hug-a-thug politicians only endanger our society.

In the meantime, an abandoned prison sits out at Eagle Mountain. Why not relocate the Mead Valley halfway house to this site?

Like hitting two jailbirds with one stone, Mead Valley residents could sleep at night while Riverside County could assess utilizing this dormant prison for county inmates. It's a start.

Rick Reiss of Temecula is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: RickReiss6@netscape.net.