NY: Banished from New York City [audio]: The Legality, Policy Considerations, and Practical Implications of the Housing Restrictions Faced by People on the Sex Offender Registry

[nycbar.org – 9/11/18]

In New York City, there are hundreds of men and women on the sex offender registry who are subject to the Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA) residency restriction, which prevents them from living within 1,000 feet of a school. This little-known restriction has created enormous constitutional problems. Because our densely-populated city contains virtually no residences that comply with this restriction, prisons are holding these people past the length of their prison sentences if there is no SARA-compliant housing available – a time period that usually extends longer than a year. This event addresses the history and policy behind the residency restriction, the impact of SARA on people who have committed sex offenses, and the legal challenges being made on behalf of people affected by SARA.

Panelists:
Michael Burke, Hodges Walsh Messemer & Burke, LLP
Bill Dobbs, Publisher, Dobbs Wire, newsletter about sex offense law and policy; Advisor, Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center at Mitchell Hamline Law School
Emily Horowitz, Professor and Chairperson, St. Francis College, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department
Susannah Karlin, Licensed Social Worker, Center for Appellate Litigation
Robert Newman, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Practice, Special Litigation Unit
Greg Williams, The Fortune Society

Listen to the panel discussion

 

Related links:

Housing Restrictions Keep Sex Offenders in Prison Beyond Release Dates [nytimes.com – 8/21/2014]

 

Related posts

Subscribe
Notify of

We welcome a lively discussion with all view points - keeping in mind...

 

  1. Your submission will be reviewed by one of our volunteer moderators. Moderating decisions may be subjective.
  2. Please keep the tone of your comment civil and courteous. This is a public forum.
  3. Swear words should be starred out such as f*k and s*t and a**
  4. Please avoid the use of derogatory labels.  Use person-first language.
  5. Please stay on topic - both in terms of the organization in general and this post in particular.
  6. Please refrain from general political statements in (dis)favor of one of the major parties or their representatives.
  7. Please take personal conversations off this forum.
  8. We will not publish any comments advocating for violent or any illegal action.
  9. We cannot connect participants privately - feel free to leave your contact info here. You may want to create a new / free, readily available email address that are not personally identifiable.
  10. Please refrain from copying and pasting repetitive and lengthy amounts of text.
  11. Please do not post in all Caps.
  12. If you wish to link to a serious and relevant media article, legitimate advocacy group or other pertinent web site / document, please provide the full link. No abbreviated / obfuscated links. Posts that include a URL may take considerably longer to be approved.
  13. We suggest to compose lengthy comments in a desktop text editor and copy and paste them into the comment form
  14. We will not publish any posts containing any names not mentioned in the original article.
  15. Please choose a short user name that does not contain links to other web sites or identify real people.  Do not use your real name.
  16. Please do not solicit funds
  17. No discussions about weapons
  18. If you use any abbreviation such as Failure To Register (FTR), Person Forced to Register (PFR) or any others, the first time you use it in a thread, please expand it for new people to better understand.
  19. All commenters are required to provide a real email address where we can contact them.  It will not be displayed on the site.
  20. Please send any input regarding moderation or other website issues via email to moderator [at] all4consolaws [dot] org
  21. We no longer post articles about arrests or accusations, only selected convictions. If your comment contains a link to an arrest or accusation article we will not approve your comment.
  22. If addressing another commenter, please address them by exactly their full display name, do not modify their name. 
ACSOL, including but not limited to its board members and agents, does not provide legal advice on this website.  In addition, ACSOL warns that those who provide comments on this website may or may not be legal professionals on whose advice one can reasonably rely.  
 

25 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

This was already found unconstitutional multiple times in NY.

The NY registry also has had in their FAQs section that it doesn’t matter how far from a school someone lives that if they are going to commit an offense then they will do it regardless how close to the school it is…

The residency restrictions makes no sense to have in NYC as everything is within 1000 ft of a school 😑

Wish I could have gone.

These kinds of little-known exceptions are what really scare me. The legislation and regulatory body surrounding sexual offenses and registrants is vast, and to me that says that even a definitive ban on the registry by SCOTUS won’t catch all the collateral consequences. I mean, even if it did, we’d still have to deal with the collateral consequences of just having a regular criminal conviction.

People convicted of sex offenses are the ultimate expression of living in a “state of exception”. All rights are guaranteed for all except us. Ours are always at risk of being rescinded, and the presumption is on us to justify our “worthiness” of them.

Also, in NY, I have to take off from work and family responsibilities to have my picture taken. This time, I am going to write LE a letter back, stating that due to serious work and dire family obligations, I could come in to have my picture taken M-F before 6am, after 6:30pm & on Saturdays and I don’t participate in such burdens on Sundays as I am assuming that your picture taker doesn’t either, unless it’s paid @double time.

The effects of the formation of an electronic blacklist DEEMED NOT intended to impose restraint on plain liberty. A plain lie, obfuscated by preamble. Plain indentured of citizen to property AND continuous maintenance.
If no liberty at stake, who d complain?

The very man was made leader of the panel. He now also sets the agenda!
He must go!

I am an ex con just like every other ex con. A free citizen who served out his sentence honorably, a long, long time ago. That picture, is a burden. I am a very hard working professional, who ran out of paid time off due to horrific family illness. It’s simple . . . Take pic = get fired.

Will Allen and David Kennerly your comments justify in my opinion the reason for Lifetime and 30 years.

You are hysterical, in denial, making general claims that LE is ‘criminal’ and in fact you well fit the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

Why don’t you become a patient here where you will not get your way http://www.paraphilias.nyc

Is this the same “NYLevel1” that was accusing me of being someone else and accusing me of trying to confuse people between me and him? The same one that berated the only organized group fighting for us in NY as a bunch of preeners and failures?

Residency restrictions are unconstitutional, but here they get around it by making it into a trespassing or order of protection type law. It’s not saying you can’t LIVE near a school, it’s saying you CAN’T BE NEAR the school’s premises. So if you’re in a building near the school you’re violating the law – even if you live there. Since it’s not directly aimed at residency, it will take years for a Judge to be brave enough to admit that residency is an issue here and strike it down.