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…
Read MoreTag: Presence Restrictions
CA: Long Beach Looks To Ban Childless Adults From Park Playgrounds
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…
Read MoreOK: Law enforcement pushing to close loophole allowing sex offenders at Oklahoma school bus stops
[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,”…
Read MoreCA: ACSOL Lawsuit alleges Irvine sex offender rule conflicts with state law
[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.…
Read MoreACSOL Challenges Irvine’s Presence Restrictions in CA
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. …
Read MoreIL: High court upholds ban on sex offenders in parks
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…
Read MoreSex Offender Registries Are Fueling Mass Incarceration — And They Aren’t Helping Survivors
[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…
Read MoreNJ: Bill seeks to restrict school bus stops and child care facilities from opening too close to registrants
[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…
Read MoreMO: Some Sex Offenders Could Be Banned from Going Near Missouri Nature and Education Centers
[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…
Read MoreNY: Cuomo plans to ban sex offenders from MTA transit system
[pix11.com – 1/7/20] Repeat and high-risk sex offenders would be banned from the MTA tranist system under a new law proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The NYPD announced support for the ban when Cuomo suggested it in March of 2019. The ban would apply to offenders for three years and blocks them from the subway, bus and rail systems. “MTA riders deserve to feel safe, and we have an obligation to ensure they will not be targeted by sex offenders,” Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday. “Enough is enough. If we want…
Read MorePA: Sex offender removed from the hospital during the birth of his child
Many of the stories we bring you on a daily basis here at WPXI are clear cut. They’re right or wrong. But this one had us here in the newsroom debating and even questioning ourselves. It’s one of those rare instances where you see both sides. Ken Moore is a registered sex offender but never thought that would keep him from seeing the birth of his third child. Full Article
Read MoreKY: ‘It will also prevent this from happening again.’ Neighbors, including local prosecutor, sought park to displace sex offender
In a neighborhood of broad lawns and trees, residents wanted one of their neighbors to leave – and they seized on an unusual way to try and get the city’s help to force him out. The drama involved a local prosecutor, a sex offender, and a tiny sliver of land along Dixie Highway with a handful of benches and a doggy bag dispenser. In the spring, a registered sex offender moved in next door to Kyle Burns, who also happened to be an assistant Commonwealth attorney for Campbell County. Burns had an…
Read MoreNC: Sheriff warns sex offenders to stay away from the fair
Men and women on the sex offender registry know they’re supposed to avoid areas where children are, but the local sheriff wants to be sure that’s top of mind now that the Cleveland County Fair has opened. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Explosive 3-hour meeting has many talking about possible health and housing center
[newschannel20.com – 8/21/19] SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — An explosive meeting took place Wednesday evening over whether Springfield should allow a vacant building to become a health and housing center. … While the proposed center is more than just a homeless shelter, some asked how will the place know if they have a sex offender coming to use their facilities, especially because of the proximity to the Lincoln Magnet School. “There is no way to know that the mental health individuals that they’re serving are sex offenders. There’s no way to…
Read MoreWI: Rhinelander Common Council approves new sex offenders ordinance
[starjournalnow.com – 8/13/19] The Rhinelander Common Council met Monday and held the final public hearing for the new sex offender ordinance. No concerns or questions regarding the ordinance were brought forth at the public hearing, and the council approved the new ordinance unanimously. The sex offender ordinance limits registered sex offender housing and activity areas within proximity to places where children are present such as schools, playgrounds and parks. It also limits holiday events in which sex offenders can participate such as disallowing handing out candy to trick-or-treaters or dressing…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Law Enforcement Denies Registrants Full Access to AA Meetings
You’re a registrant on parole with an alcohol/substance abuse problem. You want to help yourself by attending AA, NA or some other supportive type group meetings. Your PO thinks it’s a fine idea, however, you may be prevented from fully participating in the AA program and it’s not AA who’s preventing it, it may be your PO. It’s not only in real estate where “location” is everything. Due to the endless boundary lines or buffer zones that registrants must navigate, wanting to attend an AA meeting can become a logistical…
Read MoreCA: Ordinance barring car-sleeping on L.A. residential streets quietly expires
[dailynews.com – 7/18/19] LOS ANGELES – A city ordinance barring people from sleeping in vehicles parked on residential Los Angeles streets quietly expired at the end of June, and LAPD officers have been instructed to no longer issue citations for the offense. … “This is very dangerous because the objective of this is to keep all kinds of vehicles off and away from schools and parks, where kids play, and off residents’ front curbs,” said Ryavec, who is also a community officer with the Venice Neighborhood Council. “That evaporated on…
Read MoreFL: Do Central Florida theme parks screen for sex offenders?
[wesh.com – 4/25/19] Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando? In February, a registered sex offender was arrested after Orange County deputies said he exposed himself to a child at Aquatica. The accused, 52-year-old Gerald Youmans, was convicted in 2004 of exposing himself to a child in Palm Beach. He was designated a sexual predator, but according to an arrest affidavit, he held an annual pass to the theme park. The incident…
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