Legislators in Madison are considering requiring sex offenders to install green license plates to make them more visible to the community.

The green, actually chartreuse, plates would be required for first and some second degree sex offenders.,”

Legislators in Madison are considering requiring sex offenders to install green license plates on their cars to make them more visible to the community.

The green, specifically chartreuse, plates would be required for first and some second-degree sex offenders.

The bill is being sponsored by state assembly Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc).

"For too long sex predators can watch our children," he said. "It is time to give parents a chance to watch them back."

Kleefisch said the bill would be tough on those who were given a light sentence before Jessica's Law was enacted. Jessica's Law was passed in Wisconsin in 2005 and carries a mandatory 25-year sentence to sex offenders convicted of molesting anyone under age 16.

"They received soft sentences," Kleefisch said.

Right now the bill is in front of the Committee on Criminal Justice and is scheduled to go to a vote next week. If approved, it will go in front of the entire assembly.

The bill would require sex offenders to install the plates. If they do not, they would be fined up to $25,000 or sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. If they drive without the license plate, they would be fined up to $10,000.

Gov. Jim Doyle approved a law last May requiring first-degree and some second-degree violators to wear a GPS tracking device. They will be fitted with the GPS devices July 1. The same people with the GPS devices would also have the green license plates.

The bill is opposed by state assembly Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee).

"I do not like the concept of humiliating punishments," he said. "The American legal system punishes you, you then serve your punishment and are done after that."

Kessler said he considered adding the name "Hester" to the bill, referring to the main character in "The Scarlet Letter."

"This bill goes a step further because it humiliates people," he said.

Kessler said he also is worried that the bill could cause vigilante action from other people against the sex offenders.

"It encourages a lynch mob mentality," he said.

Kleefisch said Wisconsin has expanded exposure of sex offenders but there has not been an increase in vigilante justice.

"We have strict laws against vigilante justice," he said.

According to Darren Wheelock, assistant professor of criminology, vigilante action against sex offenders is rare but adding a special provision would do very little to prevent sex offenses.

"It might actually increase the amount of crime that sex offenders would be involved with because it stigmatizes them," Wheelock said. "Research is needed, but based on what we know these things that stigmatize people do not prevent more crime."

Both Wheelock and Kessler said the bill was a publicity stunt.

"These types of legislation are generally political tools because they make the public feel like something is being done to stop sex offenders," Wheelock said.

State assembly Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh), also a member of the committee, said she is probably going to vote in favor of the bill.

"It would be a color children would recognize," she said. "They would know not to trust the person in that car."

She said if the bill did not work they could always change it, but she was "partial to children because they are an asset to us."

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