Following criticism from three UW-Madison professors, the authors of a sex offender-tracking bill said their security plans will go forward in July.
State Reps. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, and Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said that their bill requiring Global Positioning System tracking of repeat sex offenders is constitutional, despite the objections the professors voiced last week.
""Once again, it's upsetting that our tax dollars are paying for three far-left wing supposed professors to weigh in on the side of child sex offenders,"" Kleefisch said in a statement. ""The law we passed is constitutionally sound and will survive any court challenge thrown at it.""
Professors Walter Dickey, Byron Lichstein and Meredith Ross said the bill violates civil liberties and should not be allowed to track offenders who are not on parole, in a letter to Matthew Frank, the state Corrections secretary, the Associated Press reported.
The bill would require the offenders to wear a satellite-tracking device 24 hours a day. The legislation would also affect sex offenders found guilty before the law is officially in place this summer.
According to Suder, this is ""common sense"" and the professors' criticism is made from the safety of leather chairs in their offices.
""Protecting our communities from high risk child sex offenders trumps any ridiculous notion of ""individual liberties"" that three nutty law professors have concocted in their ivory towers,"" Suder said.
Dickey previously served as the secretary of the Wisconsin department of corrections from 1983-1987.
Currently 42 states use similar GPS tracking systems to monitor offenders once they are released from jail. The lawmakers said as far as they are aware there have been no constitutional challenges in any other location.
Gov. Jim Doyle signed the legislation last session after it passed in both houses of the state Legislature with bipartisan support.
