[mitchellhamline.edu – 3/28/20] SEX OFFENSE LITIGATION AND POLICY RESOURCE CENTER Strategies for reducing COVID-19 exposure by revising the implementation of registration policies, housing banishment laws, and other restrictions impacting people with convictions MARCH 28, 2020 – We join numerous criminal justice organizations that have issued policy recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by suspending or eliminating non-essential police and court functions, while ensuring that law enforcement resources are used wisely to keep communities safe. This guidance focuses on policies affecting people listed on sex offense registries. More than 900,000…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions (SORR)
NJ: 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 MoreFresno Co., CA, striking residency restrictions due to ACSOL suit
[narsol.org – 3/11/20] Fresno County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted this week to repeal an ordinance that restricts how close convicted sex offenders can live near schools and parks — a policy California’s Supreme Court found unconstitutional. The move by Fresno County also includes a settlement with a Sacramento-based attorney who sued over the law. The county has joined other localities across the state who have lifted the 2,000-foot or greater buffer many municipalities required of sex offenders for more than a decade. About 40 localities, like Santa Clarita, Lompoc and…
Read MoreMI: Ypsilanti adds ex-offenders as protected class in nondiscrimination ordinance
[mlive.com – 3/4/20] YPSILANTI, MI – People with felony convictions cannot be discriminated against in Ypsilanti in a new addition to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance that passed Tuesday. Ypsilanti City Council voted unanimously to make ex-offenders a city-protected class at its meeting on March 3. Elected officials said the move will help returning citizens reintegrate into society and address racial disparities. Speakers during public comment said felony convictions are particularly challenging to finding employment and housing after returning from prison or parole. Several said a felony conviction can often act…
Read MoreFL: Day care opens near transitional house with sex offenders
[actionnewsjax.com – 2/19/20] JACKSONVILLE,, Fla. — A local day care opened in a neighborhood surrounded with registered sex offenders and predators. An Action News Jax investigation found people convicted of sex crimes now live less than 1,000 feet from Bella Childcare, which started enrolling children in January. A viewer, who didn’t want to give his name, reached out to Action News Jax to express concerns because he provides transitional housing for sex offenders nearby. The transitional house is on Walnut St., which is right around the corner from Bella Childcare.…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota sex offenders sue over residency restrictions in Apple Valley
[startribune.com – 2/13/20] A group of convicted sex offenders has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a far-reaching ordinance in Apple Valley that severely restricts where they can live, alleging that the ordinance effectively bars them from living anywhere in the city. In a federal class action lawsuit filed Wednesday, three sex offenders seek an injunction preventing the city of Apple Valley from enforcing the ordinance, which prohibits people convicted of certain sex offenses from living within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, churches and child care centers.…
Read MoreIL: Registered sex offenders can stay at Wayside Cross a little longer after ruling again delayed
[chicagotribune.com – 1/21/20] The child sex offenders living at Wayside Cross in Aurora can remain at the ministry for at least a while longer, after a judge again delayed ruling on their request to temporarily block enforcement of a sex offender residency law pending the outcome of a lawsuit. The Wayside Cross residents are seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, which would allow them to remain at the ministry until their lawsuit challenging enforcement of a sex offender residency law is resolved. Kane County Circuit Court Judge Kevin…
Read MoreWI: Fond du Lac council mulls ordinance to restrict sex offender placement near parks, schools
[fdlreporter.com – 1/23/20] FOND DU LAC – Should the city regulate the distance from which sex offenders can reside from parks, schools and child-care facilities? Fond du Lac City Council members considered this possibility during its meeting Wednesday night, receiving input from Fond du Lac Police Chief William Lamb and City Attorney Deborah Hoffman about the need for such an ordinance and its legality. Council member Daniel Degner presented the issue to council, stating it was one of the reasons he ran in 2019 for the seat. In 2018, Degner circulated a petition…
Read MoreCA: San Diego Officially Rescinds Sex Offender Law
[nbcsandiego.com – 1/22/20] The city of San Diego has agreed to remove a law that restricted potential living locations for registered sex offenders who are no longer on parole for their crimes. The decision was part of a legal settlement that officially puts an end to the city’s Child Protection Act of 2008. The law prohibited all registered sex offenders regardless of parole status from living less than a half-mile from schools, parks, and other public places. In 2009 the city decided to no longer enforce the Child Protection Act…
Read MoreME: Old Town will restrict where sex offenders can live
[bangordailynews.com – 12/17/19] OLD TOWN, Maine — Registered sex offenders who have been convicted of felony-level sex crimes will be restricted from living within 750 feet of areas that children frequent, according to a new ordinance the city council unanimously approved during a special meeting on Monday, Dec. 16. The ordinance prohibits offenders from living within 750 feet of schools, playgrounds, parks or daycares, as well as other places in which children are the primary users. A total of 13 areas were listed on the proposed ordinance as restricted zones,…
Read MoreIL: Wayside Cross child sex offender residents receive new notices citing proximity to Aurora park
[chicagotribune.com – 12/13/19] For the second time this year, child sex offenders who live at Wayside Cross Ministries in Aurora were given letters stating they must find a new place to live within 30 days. An Aurora police officer delivered letters to 19 residents who were scheduled to receive them around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning, police spokesman Paris Lewbel said. The letters said the men reside within 500 feet of McCarty Park and therefore by law must move. The residents received similar notices in June but were allowed to remain…
Read MoreNY: Town adopts hotel/motel, special events laws
[uticaod.com – 12/11/19] New law sets limit on number of registered sex offenders who can stay at a hotel or motel HERKIMER — The Herkimer town board adopted a pair of local laws Monday — one dealing with hotels and motels and the other with special events. The local law requiring the licensing of hotels and motels in the town of Herkimer was adopted in response to residents’ complaints about the Glen Ridge Motel on state Route 5 and was based on local laws adopted by the town of Brighton,…
Read MoreTX: Neighbors: Sex offenders may follow proposed Good Samaritan homeless shelter to area
[caller.com – 11/29/19] There was a time when Abel Palacious found himself homeless. Now, he lives across the street from the old Lamar Elementary School. The school, at the corner of Morris and 19th streets, could be converted into the largest homeless shelter in Corpus Christi. It would house 308 beds as the new location for the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission. The organization served Palacious when he was homeless. Even so, he said he can’t support the shelter’s proposed location because registered sex offenders are allowed to stay at the Good Samaritan. He has…
Read MoreWI: 65 percent of registered sex offenders approved for Green Bay housing exemption since Nov. 2018
[nbc26.com – 11/28/19] Darlene Esquivel did not want Theodore Blazek to be able to live next door. Blazek, a registered sex offender convicted of possession of child pornography, asked for an exemption to a Green Bay ordinance that bars registered sex offenders with a conviction involving children from living within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, and playgrounds. Blazek declined an on-camera interview, but said he is not a threat and wants to live in the home because he owns it. Esquivel said she told her nine-year-old daughter about Blazek’s history.…
Read MoreWI: Gov. Tony Evers Vetoes Changes To Sex Offender Residency Requirements
[wpr.org – 11/25/19] Measure Passed Legislature With Unanimous Vote, Bipartisan Support Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have lifted state restrictions on how close people convicted of sex crimes can live to schools. The bill, which passed the state Assembly and Senate unanimously, would have repealed a state law that bars sexually violent persons from living less than 1,500 feet from schools, public parks, places of worship or youth centers. The bill would also have required offenders be placed in their home county after being released from…
Read MoreCA: Federal Court Voids San Diego Residency Restrictions [NEW LINKS]
[New related links added] [ACSOL] A federal district court determined today that San Diego’s residency restrictions are void. As a result, the city cannot restrict where a registrant who is not on parole may reside. “The court’s decision today settles plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, but does not settle the entire case,” explained civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci. “We will continue the case in order to protect the rights of all registrants who choose to reside in San Diego.” Plaintiffs filed their motion on June 27…
Read MoreNY: Sex offender rules an inconsistent maze
[timesunion.com – 11/9/19] ALBANY — A New York law that is intended to protect children from convicted sex offenders has created a maze of contradictory policies and regulations, leading to inconsistent enforcement and confusing online tracking systems. The disparities have also resulted in sharply different residency requirements for offenders convicted of similar crimes and an increasingly perplexing system that makes it difficult for the public to confirm whether offenders in their area are in compliance, according to a Times Union review of public databases, court records, an internal state memorandum…
Read MoreFL: Bringing Sense to Sex Offender Laws [Audio recording]
[Miami Law Explainer on soundcloud.com – 10/28/19] In the decade since the national shame of a colony of sex offenders made homeless by draconian residency restrictions, how far has the city and nation moved in finding humane and successful rehabilitation? Miami Law’s director of Tenants’ Rights Jeffrey Hearne parses the depressing lack of progress. Recorded October 28, 2019. Listen to the recording
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