Source: bbc.com 3/12/25 Set among endless sugar-cane fields in a remote part of southern Florida, Restoration Destination is a community made up of registered sex offenders. Created by a Christian ministry as a response to state laws which ban them from living close to where children gather, it is now home to more than 100 men who have been placed on Florida’s sex offenders register for life. Through therapy, counselling and support, Restoration Destination aims to reduce their likelihood of reoffending and help them reintegrate into society. Journalist Conor Garrett…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions (SORR)
IL: Bill proposes halving distance between sex offenders and schools to 250 feet
Source: mystateline.com 3/17/25 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill proposed in Illinois would reduce the distance convicted sex offenders are required to observe when living near schools. Senate Bill 2254, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (D-Chicago), would reduce the distance sex offenders are required to stay from schools and playgrounds from 500 feet to 250 feet. Read the full article [Action alert for Illinois registrants and supporters: Call, write, and show up as soon as possible to support this bill to increase housing choices for registrants]
Read MoreIL: Illinois Senate democrats push bill to ease residency rules for sex offenders
Source: prairiestatewire.com 3/14/25 Illinois Democratic state senators have proposed legislation that would reduce residency restrictions for registered child sex offenders, lowering the required distance they must maintain from schools and childcare facilities. Introduced by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford and co-sponsored by Sens. Adriane Johnson and Mary Edly-Allen, Senate Bill 2254 seeks to amend the Criminal Code of 2012 and the state’s sex offender registration laws. Under the proposed changes, the restricted zone around schools and childcare institutions would shrink from 500 feet to 250 feet. Additionally, the bill removes day care homes…
Read MoreFL: UPDATED 3/5/25 Putnam County Sheriff’s Office: ‘Cesspool of sex offenders’ cleared out of local trailer park
3/5/25 UPDATE: firstcoastnews.com “Tents housing sex offenders behind Putnam County Sheriff’s Office headquarters taken down” 3/3/25 UPDATE: actionnewsjax.com “‘It’s just rough’: Registered sex offenders in Putnam County claim to be displaced” Source: actionnewsjax.com 2/28/25 PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A “cesspool of sex offenders” was cleared out of a Palatka trailer park on Friday afternoon, according to Putnam County Sheriff Gator DeLoach. On a Facebook Live, DeLoach said more than 22 convicted predators and sex offenders living in the area were cleared out. The trailer park, located at 3600 Balsam Street,…
Read MoreOH: More than 60 people displaced after Akron apartment building deemed unsafe, including 20 sex offenders
Source: cleveland19.com 2/18/25 AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) – More than 60 people are without a home on one of the coldest days of the year. According to the city of Akron, the façade of the Parkside Apartments on S. Main, St. came crumbling down on Feb. 9. On Feb. 13, the Summit County Division of Building Standards deemed the building to be an imminent danger to residents and the surrounding community. During their inspection, they also found a fire panel wasn’t working and issued an immediate evacuation. On Feb. 14, the…
Read MoreMD: Registered sex offenders living next to Maryland schools, parents outraged that it’s legal
Source: wsbt.com 3/18/23 BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Registered sex offenders living just feet from schools – it sounds like a parent’s nightmare. But WBFF found that it’s happening in Maryland, and it’s perfectly legal. Registered sex offenders living next to Maryland schools, parents outraged that it’s legal (WBFF) “I didn’t think that was possible,” said Casey Gerlach, a Baltimore County mother. “It’s terrifying,” added another Baltimore County mother Mary Frances Gensor. Maryland is home to about 6,500 registered sex offenders. According to the sex offender registry, nine offenders in seven locations live…
Read MoreWI: Glendale likely to challenge plan that would house sex offenders near child areas
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 MoreFL: 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…
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