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Show The Park Record A-16 TZLL. PLANNING family ELstate Planning at its Jeffrey f. bahls, JP. CfP PrindpaL Planner Years experience advising ei . retirees and t l w families A faniiLy based approach u5^n^ wealth Tax avoidance and asset protection techn<\ues Ej<perience With charitable giving, utapaotated persons, and "special needs" situations J/in L-ive. ,r:' By LOLITA HARPER MediaNeivs Group Wire Service Califomians funded erectile-dysfunction drugs for 137 rapists, child molesters and the like over the past year, says a Southern California assemblyman who wants to stop the practice for good. Russ Bogh, R-Yucaipa, and Assemblyman George Plescia, RSan Diego, introduced a bill on Feb. 16 that would deny drugs such as Viagra to men who are on Medi-Cal and are required to register as sex offenders. The Assembly passed the bill, AB 522, in a 73-0 vote on May 5. AB 522 gained unanimous consent on Wednesday in the state Senate Committee on Health and is headed to the state Senate Committee on Public Safety. "Not very many people want to argue that sex offenders deserve this medication," Bogh said. Using research provided by the California Health and Human Services Agency, Bogh staffers learned that 137 registered sex offenders received state-covered erectile-dysfunction medication between May 2004 and last April. Bogh's Assembly district, portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, was on a "heightened state of alert" regarding ..••...-• ^ntraes juvxe. Special ••;•.'".•';.:..:;;-,* : ---$1 C o r k a g e - . • •. ' • ' . - ' } (with a d ) . \ : sex offenders, he said. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a resolution supporting a separate state Senate bill that would allow landlords to legally deny tenancy to convicted sex offenders. Last month, the board approved a system that would track high-risk sex offenders on probation through global positioning system satellite technology. Jay Adams, a retired psychologist who has treated sex offendersfor27 years and worked at Patton Stale Hospital in San Bernardino for 10 years, said legislation like this only detracts from real solutions to a very real and prevalent problem. "It's obvious thai it is ridiculous for sex offenders to have these types of drugs, but I think this issue is one that is constantly sensationalized," Adams said. Politicians' time would be better spent focusing on solutions that arc scientifically grounded, she said. The issues confronting sexual predators are so complex, she said, broadstroke legislation does not even begin to scratch the surface. "We haven't really done anything to address the problem to how to treat these people," Adams said. "There is no treatment in the Department of Corrections. This is something that we have failed to come to grips with." New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi brought the issue under a national spotlight in May when he wrote U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Levitt that such a practice raises "serious policy considerations." Hcvcsi's office reported that 198 high-risk sex offenders received Medicaid-reimbursed Viagra between Jan. 1,2000, and last March 31. Sex offenders include those who arc convicted of rape, sexual abuse and sexual conduct with a child. New York state statistics prompted President Bush to threaten sanctions against states that provide such drugs through Medicaid _ the parent program to California's Medi-Cal. The New York report also caught the attention of Bogh and Plescia, who investigated the issue in the Golden State. Federal health officials in 1998 directed the government to cover drugs deemed medically necessary, including erectile-dysfunction medicines. Strict controls were placed to ensure the drugs were dispensed only to Medi-Cal patients with a physician's authorization, state Health and Human Services Secretary Kimberly Belshe said in.a written statement. Belshe said the California Department of Health Services reviewed the medical authorization before approving payment for Viagra for Medi-Cal patients and limited the number of pills covered. A loophole in Clinton administration policy allowed convicted sex offenders to also receive govern^ ment-funded medication, Belshe said. Bogh and Plescia sent their findings on offenders receiving erectile-; dysfunction medication at taxpayer expense in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 24. "More than zero is too many," Bogh said. Adams said a physician would generally have no knowledge that his patient was a registered sex offender before prescribing such a drug. Two days after receiving the Republican duo's letter, Gov. Schwarzenegger - who was already facing pressure from the Bush administration - ordered California health officials to stop providing erectile-dysfunction drugs to convicted sex offenders. The governor said he issued the emergency order to protect Califomians until more permanent legislation is enacted. Therapist skips high court in military battle "Friday/ 6/24 - oneBOovxe. Saturday, 6/25 - &ve.ry&\mg VA Mark T. Williaws & Lisa AJee / 6/28 - T?anny "Rhodes and $\e. ."-••.; Calif, to deny sex offenders Viagra t "~Cwo for One? Wed/Thurs/Fri, June 22-24, 2005 \ / - -7. ' " ". : Present fkis ad and receive a compVimavxtary en-free Witk purchase of a second entree of equal o^ g^eate^ value Valid foi* credit car*d pui*cKases only .Limits One. p*ee entree per ad Offer expires Tuesday, June 28tk Open AligMy at 5:30 • Validated Parking For Reservations Call ^35-658-3975 890 Ma'm St. • Park City By MILES MOFFEIT MediaNews Group Wire Service With their legal arguments failing to persuade civilian trial and appellate federal judges, attorneys for a Colorado Springs rape therapist are hoping public opinion wili help protect their client. Attorneys for Jennifer Bier postponed plans Sunday to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court and have chosen to see whether the Air Force and federal prosecutors would follow through on an arrest warrant issued after she refused to let a military judge review her notes of conversations with an alleged rape victim. "They can't keep bullying her, and our position is that, after reviewing the military law over the weekend, they absolutely have no power to arrest her," said attorney Wendy Murphy, adding that she recognizes the U.S. attorney's office can pursue prosecution and that such an action might then force an appeal to the Supreme Court "But we hope that day never comes." Murphy said she is relying on a 2000 decision from the military's court of appeals that said civilian courts should govern civilians, rather than military courts. But •rather than pursue that appeal through legal channels. Murphy and Bier have decided to wait and see whether military officials will jail Bier. Officials at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, where the court-martial of the alleged rapist is to be held, have refused to comment on Bier's challenge to the warrant. Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, which has argued the case on behalf of the Air Force in Denver federal courts, had no comment on Murphy's remarks. "We don't comment on whether that (prosecution of Bier) could be likely," he said. Air Force Judge David Brasli issued the arrest warrant after Bier refused to let him review notes from sessions she held with a former Air Force Academy cadet who says she was raped by former cadet Joseph Harding. Brash wanted to see whether there was any evidence in those notes that would be beneficial to Harding's defense. Harding, now a lieutenant on active duty, faces court-martial proceedings beginning Wednesday on two charges of sexual assault involving Bier's client and a second woman. But unless Bier changes her mind and decides to provide her notes for a review by the judge. Brash may be faced with a choice between Harding's constitutional right to a fair trial and Bier's pledge to keep client records confidential. After a U.S. District Court judge had ruled the arrest warrant valid, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday also declined to block the arrest warrant, saying it was reluctant to interfere in a military proceeding and pointed to a 1975 Supreme Court case in support of its move. Instead of ruling on the constitutionality and privilege-protection questions, the court said Bier's appeal should be exhausted first in the military's justice system, relying on a case cited by the Air Force. Murphy, however, has declined to appeal in the military system. Murphy said a 2000 decision in the case U.S. vs. Quintanilla, from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, reads in part: "In contrast to federal civilian judges, military judges do not have the power to treat noncompliance with a subpoena as a contempt of court- ... In a court-martial, if a civilian refuses to comply, the matter is referred to the appropriate U.S. attorney for prosecution in the federal civilian courts." David Ware, a Pueblo, Colo., attorney and former Army lawyer, said last week that he believed the jurisdiclional issue could be the most crucial point in the case, instead of the clash between civilian and military therapist-patient protections, questioning "whether the military can legally subpoena a civilian" with enforce ability. If the U.S. attorney's office decides to prosecute, Murphy said, she will have an even stronger case in federal courts that Bier's liberty is being violated: "There's a better chance we'll prevail." Bier said she agrees and that she's willing to go to jail to protect her clients. Utah's #1 Volume Dealer 13 years & running 2005 CLOSEOUT! . THE SUBARU Best Prices In Town are at Mark Miller ^ r Subaru! > ALL-WHEEL DRIVE HERITAGE SALES EVENT 2006 B9 Tribeca Has Arrived! 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