Source: jsonline.com 12/7/24 The City of Glendale, Wisconsin is challenging a plan that would house two sex offenders in Milwaukee, right near Glendale’s border and near several places children often visit. At the city’s Dec. 9 Common Council meeting, officials will vote on whether to approve a resolution that would seek the plan’s reversal. The two offenders were both convicted in 1989, one for first-degree sexual assault and the other for second-degree sexual assault. The proposed resolution invokes a Glendale ordinance prohibiting convicted sex offenders from living within 1,200 feet of specified places…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions (SORR)
FL: Westlake City Council blocks future registrants from living there
Source: cbs12.com 7/17/24 WESTLAKE, Fla. (CBS12) — The Westlake City Council unanimously signed off on plans to enact stricter requirements on sexual predators and offenders – with one minor change. The measure is designed to protect the youngest residents of the area’s fastest-growing city and its main focus is widening the zones where predators are allowed to live, keeping them further away from children. … Under the new regulations, schools, parks, community centers, playgrounds, and “other places where children regularly congregate” would be no-go zones. The proposal originally included libraries,…
Read MoreNY: This Law Effectively Banishes People from New York City (podcast)
Source: nyclu.org 6/6/24 SARA is billed as a way to protect New Yorkers from people who could harm children. But research shows these types of geographical restrictions don’t increase public safety. The NYCLU recently filed a lawsuit challenging the misleadingly-named Sexual Assault Reform Act, or SARA. SARA is a New York law that prevents certain people required to register on the state’s sex offender registry from knowingly being within 1,000 feet of a school at any time and for any reason. It’s also been interpreted to prevent people subject to…
Read MoreAlabama Court Rules Residency Restrictions Violate Constitution
Source: ACSOL A federal district ruled yesterday that a state law in Alabama that restricts where registrants may live violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court’s ruling was made in a 162-page decision that carefully reviewed the language of that state law as well as its impact upon more than 20,000 individuals required to register. According to the court, one part of the challenged residency restrictions adversely could affect the ability of registrants to attend church, participate in political events, visit family and access public libraries. Another…
Read MoreWI: Seventh Circuit considers challenges to Wisconsin sex offender laws
Source: courthousenews.com 4/18/24 One case challenged who gets defined as a sex offender, while another raised questions about where sex offenders can feasibly live while on supervised release. MADISON, Wis. (CN) — The Badger State’s sex offender laws faced scrutiny on Thursday, with a Seventh Circuit panel hearing back-to-back arguments against them in the state capital. The first two cases of the day were brought by people listed on the Wisconsin sex offender registry. Plaintiffs in both cases argued — through the same attorney but for very different reasons…
Read MoreNY: Concerned Watertown mom wants increased residency restrictions
Source: thedailynewsonline.com 4/19/24 WATERTOWN — A mother of a 4-year-old boy had no idea that a registered sex offender who was convicted of sexually abusing three children was living next to her and across the street from a home day care business. The young mother, Sierra Penrose, is now working on reviving a state Senate bill that would prohibit sex offenders from living near such daycares. The bill, which was first proposed a decade ago, hasn’t gained traction, even though it’s been reintroduced several times. The proposed legislation would…
Read MoreCO: Neighbors protest facility run by Colorado mental health agency over sex offender claims
Source: cbsnews.com 4/6/24 Northglenn neighbors were out in their community to voice their opposition to a mental health facility run by the state of Colorado. which is set to open in a residential area. They say their biggest concern is that there may be sex offenders housed near families’ homes and schools. “If places like this are going to be coming into our communities, the people who live here need to know about it, and we want to have a say in it,” said Danielle Luciano. Read the full article (Write and…
Read MoreIL: Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Where Child Sex Offenders Can Live
Source: wttw.com 4/6/24 SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that a state law restricting where previously convicted child sex offenders can live is constitutional, although it left open the possibility that it was improperly applied to one individual. In a 6-0 decision, the court found the residency restriction “does not infringe upon a child sex offender’s fundamental rights” and that there was a “rational basis” for the state to restrict where a person convicted of such a crime can live. “The legislature has a legitimate interest in protecting…
Read MoreOH: Some say residency restrictions lack efficacy, fairness to sex offenders
Source: local12.com 2/16/24 A Local 12 investigation is prompting a city to take action against sex offenders violating restrictions about where they can live. The stories have revealed that there are hundreds of people on Hamilton County’s sex offender registry who are violating the law by living too close to schools and relatively little is being done to stop them. Local 12 found that even in Norwood, which has passed tougher restrictions than the state provides and where violators are aggressively pursued by the city attorney, there were still five…
Read MoreNY: Poverty and Mass Incarceration in New York: An Agenda for Change
Source: brennancenter.org 2/23/21 SUMMARY: Criminal justice reform can save New York State money and reduce the racial wealth gap. The past year has been a reckoning. As a nation, we were finally forced to confront the reality and interconnectedness of racism, inequality, and injustice, which have permeated our institutions and systems for centuries. When the protests that began in Minneapolis made their way to New York, we marched not just for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, or Freddie Gray but for all the lives that have been stolen and devalued…
Read MoreIL: How Illinois Housing Banishment Laws Push People into Homelessness and Prison
Source: boltsmag.org 1/16/24 Organizers with past sex offense convictions are championing a bill in the state legislature that could end the cycle and roll back residency restrictions. James Orr was in his apartment in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side one Wednesday morning in 2013 when he heard his phone buzz. “James, you have 30 days to move,” an Illinois state police officer on the other end told him. The 62-year-old, who had moved into the apartment with his wife in 2006 after finishing a three-year prison sentence, was…
Read MoreFL: V.M. Ybor residents get little help with sex offender problem
Source: wfla.com 12/1/23 TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The residents of V.M. Ybor have been coming to Tampa City Council for years to ask that something be done about a high concentration of convicted sex offenders living in their neighborhood. On Thursday, the city council held a workshop to talk about the issue, but the results were not what residents were hoping for. “Would that make any of you feel safe having 72 of these harmful individuals living within a quarter mile of your house?” V.M. Ybor resident Kelly Grimsdale asked…
Read MoreME: Orrington residents to choose if they want to limit where sex offenders live
Source: bangordailynews.com 12/1/23 Orrington residents will choose if they want to enact an ordinance that prohibits people on the sex offender registry from living within 750 feet of schools and churches About 35 residents, the board of selectmen, Town Manager Chris Backman and town attorney Andrew Hamilton gathered at the Center Drive School on Thursday to discuss which of three ordinances voters should choose if they decide to vote for the restriction of where registered sex offenders can live. A special town referendum is scheduled for Dec. 11. The public…
Read MoreFL: Residents want ‘clustered’ sex offenders out of Tampa neighborhood
Source: fox13news.com 10/20/23 TAMPA, Fla. – After more than two years of delays, Tampa city council members on Thursday finally received a report on the housing of sexual predators who are currently ‘clustered’ in the V.M. Ybor neighborhood. … “Commencing in 2009-2010, multiple properties on Nebraska Avenue underwent rapid transformations, becoming high-density hubs for newly released sex offenders, predators, and felons. This resulted in a concerning surge in V.M. Ybor’s sex offender and predator population. Despite initial opposition, the situation persists, prompting the need for critical intervention. One glaring issue is the Department of Corrections’ ongoing…
Read MoreMO: Motion for TRO Filed to Stop Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement
A motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was filed today in federal district court asking the court to stop enforcement of a Missouri state law that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. If the motion is granted, enforcement of the Halloween sign requirement could be stopped statewide. “It was important to make this request today so that the court could issue its ruling prior to Halloween,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci, who is now the lead attorney in the case. …
Read MoreME: Maine town residents tell leaders they want residency restrictions due to imaginary reoffense rates
Source: wgme.com 10/9/23 An Orrington Select Board meeting last month devolved into an explosive half-hour debate between residents and officials about where sex offenders should be allowed to live within the town. Residents assumed that restrictions on how close registered sex offenders could live to places such as schools and parks were set statewide. But it wasn’t until an offender moved to Orrington this summer that many realized the town does not have those laws in place. … residents were surprised to learn that Maine does not have a state-wide…
Read MoreAction Alert for Illinois: Take action now to reduce and repeal registries, decriminalize housing, and let people live in available homes
Source: Illinois Voices for Reform and Chicago 400 A message from Adele Nicholas, Executive Director, Illinois Voices for Reform: Illinois residents, please click here to support SB2158 now! Everyone needs a place to live. People who’ve done their time should have the opportunity to establish stable homes for themselves and their families. Illinois’ wasteful and counterproductive registry and residency laws too often prevent people on the registry from building a foundation for a positive future. It’s time to stand up for real change. You can help us get there! Our…
Read MoreFL: County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable
Source: mainstreetdailynews.com 9/26/23 The Newberry City Commission is looking for… … Currently, Newberry’s code does not allow sexual offenders to reside within 1,000 feet, and predators 1,500 feet, of a state-defined “protected place,” defined to be schools, childcare facilities, parks, playgrounds and any other gathering place for children. The city of Williston limits both to live 2,500 feet away from protected places, while state statute limits both sexual offenders and predators to a minimum of 1,000 feet from protected places. Courtesy city of Newberry Newberry’s existing code-specified 1,500-foot perimeters around…
Read More