Reconsider Mark Leno's Chairmanship of Assembly Public Safety Committee

Dear Speaker Nunez,


You have appointed Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco to be the chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

While we are confident that Assemblyman Leno is trying to do his best for the people of California, we are concerned that he does not share the values of average Californians, especially on issues related to child pornography and sexual predators.

On January 26, Mr. Leno stated on the Assembly floor that he would be willing to allow a person to possess up to 24 items of child pornography before being charged with a felony. An item could be anything from a single photo to a DVD with 9,000 images. Thus, under Assemblyman Lenos proposal, a predator could posses up to 216,000 pictures and still only be committing a misdemeanor, the same as someone who refuses to pay a parking ticket.

We believe that the possession of even one image is a serious crime and should be prosecuted as a felony.

Furthermore, in an interview on Fox News The OReilly Factor on September 13, 2005, Assemblyman Leno refused to condemn the possession and sale of child pornography as a violent offence, and even compared it to stealing a bicycle.

We do not believe that Assemblyman Leno shares the values of the overwhelming majority of Californians on the very important public safety issue of child pornography. Thus, we ask you to please reconsider his appointment as Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Thank you.