Tag: Presence Restrictions

CT: New Fairfield proposes ordinance to ban sex offenders from public places frequented by children

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Source: newstimes.com 10/16/23 NEW FAIRFIELD — The town is proposing a new ordinance that, if adopted, would ban convicted sex offenders from public places frequented by children. With the goal of preserving and promoting “the health, safety and general welfare of the children” and protecting them from “the threat of sexual abuse from sex offenders,” the proposed ordinance would “enact reasonable regulations restricting sex offenders from entering child safety zones,” according to the text of New Fairfield’s draft sex offender ordinance. The idea for the ordinance came from local law enforcement,  First…

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FL: Revisions made to Hernando County Sex Offender and Sexual Predator Ordinance

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Source: hernandosun.com 8/4/23 Last week, the Hernando Sun ran a story on recent changes to the Hernando County Sexual Offender and Sexual Offender Ordinance found in Chapter 21 of the Code of Ordinances. The story was largely based on a copy of the revised ordinance posted on the BOCC website for their July 11th meeting. We have learned that the copy of the ordinance posted did not reflect some of the final revisions. County Commissioner John Allocco spoke with us about the final revisions and why the changes were needed.…

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FL: Brevard settles lawsuit over sex offenders’ access to County Commission meetings

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Source: floridatoday.com 4/8/23 Brevard County has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit involving the right of convicted sex offenders to attend County Commission meetings. As part of the settlement, the county agreed to pay damages of $2,500 each to the plaintiffs ― sex offenders Charles Munsey Jr., Vincent Rinaldi and Charles Violi ― plus pay $150,000 for plaintiffs’ attorney fees. The lawsuit filed in January 2022 in U.S. District Court was triggered by a 2006 Brevard County ordinance that, with some exceptions, prohibits people on the sex offender registry from…

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How to Get a Sex Offender Out of Your Neighborhood

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Source: truthfinder.com 9/14/22 One where they don’t have to be concerned when their children go to play outside. But it’s hard to know who all your neighbors are. You may be inclined to background check your neighbors. You never know, there might be individuals with a criminal history on the block, including people who commit sexual assault and other sex crimes. Many parents can’t help asking themselves, “What do I do if I live next to a sex offender?” One thing you do is worry. Another is to constantly keep…

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FL: The County Where Businesses Can Self-Identify As Parks in Order to Keep Sex Offenders Away

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Source: reason.com/ 7/19/22 In 2020, an ordinance in Brevard County, Florida, permitted a business to certify itself as a place where children congregate—the moral equivalent of a park—thereby making it a crime for anyone on the sex offense registry to venture inside, or loiter nearby. The idea, apparently, was to make kids even safer from danger. But, “proximity” laws prohibiting sex offenders from public places like playgrounds have not been shown to make kids any safer, says Emily Horowitz, a sociologist who researches sex offense law and policy. At the…

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NC: Child Safety Zones proposed at bus stops

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Source: taylorsvilletimes.com 3/10/22 Alexander County Commissioners held a public hearing at their March 7, 2022, meeting on a proposed county ordinance to establish child safety zones in Alexander County. Sheriff Chris Bowman said he received a call several months ago from a concerned parent regarding a registered sex offender parking at school bus stops. Detectives Buddy McKinney and Dennis Foster started investigating the matter, and discovered that the state statute doesn’t include bus stops in the “sex offender unlawfully on premises” section. Sheriff Bowman said that Henderson County has adopted…

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Third Military Retiree Registrant Denied Access to Base

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It has been reported that a third military retiree registrant was denied access to a base in California after November 1.  The registrant is a former enlisted member of the U.S. Navy and was denied access to Coronado Naval Air Station near San Diego. “ACSOL has heard from many military retiree registrants throughout the country who were denied access to one or more bases throughout the United States during the past five years,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “The most recent examples of this, however, appear to be limited to…

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ACSOL National Action Alert: Retired Military Registrants Denied Access to Military Bases – Were You Also Denied?

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Source: ACSOL Two retired military registrants were denied access to military bases during the past seven days.  One of the registrants was denied access to a Marine base while the other was denied access to a Navy base.  The two registrants are retired from two different branches of the military — Air Force and Navy. Both attempted to access a military base in order to pick up one or more prescription medicines. According to a document provided to one of the two registrants, the Marine Corps has a new screening…

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MO: Convicted sex offender sent to prison for loitering in park

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Source: yahoo.com 11/2/2021 A Jasper County judge sent a 46-year-old man to prison for two years Monday on a conviction for hanging out in a Joplin park in violation of a state law governing convicted sex offenders. Tommy J. _____ II was found guilty Sept. 13 of loitering in a public park at the conclusion of a bench trial before Judge Dean Dankelson in Jasper County Circuit Court. Dankelson sentenced Tommy on Monday to two years in prison on the conviction. A probable-cause affidavit states that Tommy, who has a…

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Washington D.C.: Metro board scuttles vote on its contentious proposal to ban people for sex crime arrests

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Source: washingtonpost.com 9/23/21 Metro’s board has dropped a proposal to ban people from the transit system who were arrested on suspicion of sex crimes or found to be carrying a dangerous weapon, the board chairman said Thursday. The proposal had been scheduled for a vote this month, prompting more than 100 letters or messages to board members, mostly against the proposal, and protests at Metro stations and in front of a board member’s house. The proposed ban would have allowed Metro Transit Police to immediately suspend people from stations, trains…

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CA: Long Beach Looks To Ban Childless Adults From Park Playgrounds

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Source: losangeles.cbslocal.com 9/9/21 LONG BEACH (CBSLA) – The Long Beach City Council is considering a proposal that would ban adults unaccompanied by children from entering park playgrounds. The motion, which was co-authored by four councilmembers, calls for “kid zones,” which would be designated as “safe spaces” for children at parks, playgrounds and beaches. Only adults who are accompanying a child under the age of 12 would be allowed to enter. The council Tuesday night voted in favor of requesting that the city attorney draft an ordinance that will then return…

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OK: Law enforcement pushing to close loophole allowing sex offenders at Oklahoma school bus stops

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[krmg.com – 5/12/21] TULSA, Okla. — Law enforcement says there is a loophole in the law that allows convicted sexual predators to legally be at your child’s school bus stop. After learning of the oversight, following an incident in April, FOX23 went to police and lawmakers to find out what they are doing about it. … Adams wants to give other sex offenders a reason to stay away, so he went to Oklahoma State Rep. Ross Ford. “It really upsets me that we have let that fall through the cracks,”…

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CA: ACSOL Lawsuit alleges Irvine sex offender rule conflicts with state law

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[ocregister.com – 11/6/20] An Irvine resident who is on the state’s sex offender registry is challenging a city rule that prevents him from taking his own child to a public park, according to a lawsuit he filed and an attorney representing him. Irvine’s municipal code requires people on the registry who were convicted of an offense involving a minor to get written permission from the police chief to enter any city park or recreation facility; violation of the rule is a misdemeanor that could carry a fine or jail time.…

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ACSOL Challenges Irvine’s Presence Restrictions in CA

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The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) today filed a lawsuit challenging presence restrictions in the City of Irvine which were declared to be preempted by state law six years ago.  Today’s lawsuit was filed after repeated requests by ACSOL to repeal the unlawful restrictions including a letter sent to the city dated February 13, 2020. “The City of Irvine has acted unlawfully for the past six years by continuing to require some registrants to obtain prior written approval before entering a public park,” stated ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. …

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IL: High court upholds ban on sex offenders in parks

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The state’s criminal code completely bars child sex offenders from entering public parks, despite an exception written into a similar but separate part of the law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week. The 5-2 majority held that the exception in Section 11-9.3(a-10) of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012, which allows child sex offenders to visit public parks with their minor children when other minor children are present, cannot be read into Section 11-9.4-1(b), which prohibits a child sex offender from “knowingly be[ing] present in any public park.” Full…

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Sex Offender Registries Are Fueling Mass Incarceration — And They Aren’t Helping Survivors

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[jacobinmag.com – 6/22/20] The “sex offense legal regime,” which has developed alongside mass incarceration over the last forty years, has failed. US sex offender registries now list nearly one million people. Federal, state, and local ordinances prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, parks, day care centers, and other spaces where children might congregate. In places like Miami–Dade County, these restrictions have rendered hundreds of individuals effectively homeless. Only by building and inhabiting makeshift encampments in sparsely populated areas can offenders comply with such residency…

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NJ: Bill seeks to restrict school bus stops and child care facilities from opening too close to registrants

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[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/18/20] In a fascinating twist to Sex Offender Residency Restrictions, a bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature (S2066) also seeks to restrict the placement of a school bus stop or child care facility within a certain distance from persons required to register. The bill reads, “The Legislature finds and declares that public safety will be enhanced by providing municipalities with the authority to enact ordinances to prevent convicted sex offenders who have committed crimes against minors from residing within 500 feet of a school, playground, or child…

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MO: Some Sex Offenders Could Be Banned from Going Near Missouri Nature and Education Centers

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[douglascountyherald.com – 2/20/20] State Representative Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, wants to ban some registered sex offenders from going within 500 feet of any Missouri Conservation Department nature or education center. The Missouri House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee is considering Kelly’s bill, which could charge violators with a felony. The measure would apply to sex offenders who have committed certain sex crimes against children. “We have an ultimate responsibility to ensure that when the prosecutor goes after that individual for perpetrating evil crimes against a child, that we have…

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