To comply with recent federal court rulings, the Fort Atkinson City Council has amended its ordinance restricting the placement of sex offenders.
At its meeting Tuesday, the council removed the domicile restriction from the ordinance that had prevented convicted offenders who did not live in Fort Atkinson at the time of their offense from moving into the city once released.
When adopted in February 2016, many other municipalities were including the domicile restriction in their ordinances. Since then, in a federal case titled Hoffman v. the Village of Pleasant Prairie, the Eastern District federal court in Milwaukee has ruled that the restriction is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Fort Atkinson city attorney David Westrick brought forward the recommendation to remove the restriction to the city’s Ordinance Committee based on his analysis of the court rulings.
It seems the cheeseheads are learning the Constitution has not been canceled or voided. Now if only New Berlin would wake up…which they will, once that lawsuit is up and rolling.