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You're not likely to see it on the evening news. It might not even make it into your daily paper. Nevertheless, the passage of the California Circle of Trust bill is a landmark event, potentially affecting far more children, all across America, than the headline-grabbing laws named after murdered children so popular in the news these days. The Circle of Trust campaign brought together what Senator Jim Battin calls, “a vast coalition of support… the largest and most diverse that I have seen in my eleven years in the Legislature.” This coalition was fighting for a fundamental shift in the way the largest state in the union responds to the sexual abuse of children. It was a shift that would begin the dismantling of a paradigm (or prevailing philosophy) that California established in 1981.
The venomous California paradigm is two-headed. The sexual abuse of children by adults should not be treated as a criminal matter as long as it is kept in the family, says one tongue. Far better to reunite the family, says the other.
The laws that Senate Bill 33 tore down had a devastating impact on tens of thousands of California children. Despite mandatory prison sentences on the books for sexual assault against a child, these penalties could be ignored as long as the perpetrator was any adult living under the same roof as his victim. Thus, a man convicted of continuously raping a child under the age of 14 could get probation, simply because the victim was “his own” child or the child of his spouse or girlfriend.
 Yet, freeing known predatory pedophiles was only the beginning. Criminals convicted in California of sexually assaulting children in the home were not just uniquely eligible for probation, there were conditions attached. In order to qualify for probation, perpetrators had to enter a “recognized” sex offender treatment program. And there was only one type of program recognized by the State of California: family therapy. The clear legislative and practical intent of these laws was to create strong incentives for victims to attend "therapy" with their abusers and return home.
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If this philosophy sounds alien, it shouldn't. Given the respectability of law, California's paradigm of decriminalizing incest and encouraging family reunification spread across America, reinforcing the policies and attitudes that were already to be found everywhere: that children are property; that sexually molesting them is “sick,” not criminal; and that both parents have a right to their children, no matter how heinous their behavior.
The devastating effects of this philosophy are found everywhere. They can be seen when prosecutors slough off child abuse cases to family court or social services… when social workers or therapists attempt to reunify children with their molesters… when officers of the court insist that “the best parent is both parents,” even when one of them is a predatory pedophile. It is also bearing fruit when family members—who should rally around the child victim and protect her—rally around the perpetrator instead.
The passage of the Circle of Trust bill will not topple the powerful paradigm of decriminalization and family reunifcation. That cannot be done through legislation alone. But it does represent landmark reform and the most important legislative changes possible along the way to shifting American law away from a paradigm of official tolerance for sexual exploitation of children and towards full civil rights for every child. The Circle of Trust bill struck down these laws in the state where they first took hold: California. We are dedicated to ensuring that the shockwaves will be felt nationwide.
The essays here reflect on that victory, with pride, hope, rage, insight and even a little gloating. You will hear voices from across the political spectrum. We hope that there is something here that will help you—help all of us—continue this lifelong struggle to protect every child.
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