Do crime-free zones around schools and other places where children gather actually protect children? The question will be aired in the next session of the General Assembly because of two proposals, one that seeks to reduce the size of drug-free zones around schools and another that would create zones around schools where sex offenders couldn’t live. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has unanimously approved a recommendation to scale back the state’s drug-free zone from 1,500 feet to 200 feet of school property. Meanwhile, two legislators are proposing a bill that would…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions
CT: A law to restrict who can live by schools, day cares
… “The last thing a parent should have to worry about when they send their child to school is whether a depraved sex offender is lurking around the corner from the jungle gym or classroom,” Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said when announcing the proposal last week. Full Article
Read MoreSierra Madre Stops Enforcement of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City of Sierra Madre has agreed to stop enforcement of its sex offender ordinance, which prohibited all registered sex offenders, from residing in most of the city and from being present in child safety zones that included the city’s schools, parks and public library. The Sierra Madre City Council approved this action on December 10 after being sued in federal district court by one of the city’s four registered citizens. The legal challenge was based upon allegations that the city ordinance violated the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S.…
Read MoreNC: Registered sex offenders given the boot at local homeless shelters
No more room at the inn for sex offenders. That’s the word from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff. We’ve learned that a number of offenders have used the uptown shelter as their registered address, but no more. 1210 North Tryon is a well known address near Center City Charlotte. It is listed as the Uptown Men’s Shelter. Type in the address in this state run search engine, and a place known for housing homeless still comes up as a residence for sex offenders. Keeping tabs on offenders here been a thorn in the side of Sheriff…
Read MoreWI: Sex offender ordinance is working, Sheboygan officials say
Five years after Sheboygan first enacted strict limits on sex offenders seeking to live here, the city’s sex offender population has slowly waned, with the city now denying about a quarter of all residency requests it receives, records show. The 2008 ordinance essentially barred most registered sex offenders from living here without first receiving a waiver from a city committee and ultimately the Common Council. Since then, the city’s sex offender population has fallen by 13 percent, state records show, with 184 offenders now living at a Sheboygan address — some…
Read MoreSex Offender Residency Restrictions Serve No Purpose
Under Jessica’s Law, sex offenders in San Francisco are barred from residing within two thousand feet of any school or park where children regularly gather. Due to San Francisco’s limited size and dense population, it is nearly impossible to find housing outside of this restricted zone. Consequently, the number of homeless sex offenders living in San Francisco has surged since the implementation of the restriction. This unintended consequence has led to multiple challenges to the restriction’s constitutionality and effectiveness. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Englewood to appeal sexual offender decision
ENGLEWOOD – The City of Englewood announced on Tuesday that they plan to appeal the recent federal court decision to allow sexual offenders to be housed near schools, parks, pools and daycare centers. What started the court decision was when a registered sex offender fought the law and won after being told he couldn’t live anywhere in the City of Englewood. The ruling has potential to undermine laws in five other Colorado cities that place distance restrictions on how close some sex offenders can live to certain locations. Full Article…
Read MorePaedophiles Driven Out By ‘Pocket Parks’
Communities in the US who say their neighbourhoods have been blighted by high concentrations of registered sex offenders have found an unusual way of driving them away. The phenomenon of ‘pocket parks’, which are built on patches of waste land, is spreading across the country and forcing sex offenders to move out. Under Jessica’s Law, which is named in honour of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford who was abducted and murdered by a convicted sex offender, anyone on the register cannot live within 2,000 feet of a park or school. Because of that,…
Read MoreNC: Sex offender pleaded to living near day cares
GRAHAM — A registered sex offender pleaded guilty Monday to violating the state’s sex offender laws by living within 1,000 feet of two child-care centers. Before he was charged in April, Alamance County Sheriff’s deputies told ____ ____ ____, 52, that he couldn’t live at his residence on Morningside Drive in Burlington. In warrants, deputies stated that ____’s residence was within 747 feet of Unique Ventures Child Care Services and 638 feet from Gospel Tabernacle day care. … He pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of sex offender residence violation and one…
Read MoreDE: ACLU Settles Lawsuit Over Sex Offender Residence
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)- The American Civil Liberties Union has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit challenging a Dover ordinance that prohibits sex offenders from living within 500 feet of day care centers. The ACLU filed the lawsuit in February on behalf of Michael A. Justice, a registered sex offender who began living at his mother’s apartment before the ordinance was adopted. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Condo Association Fighting To Keep Sex Offender Out
A battle between a sex offender in Austin and a home owner’s association could set a precedent across the state if not the country. The association’s decision to ban sex offenders is now being challenged. A sleepy little community in South Austin is fighting what could be a major case. “I don’t know why this law firm has decided to mount a crusade in favor of pedophiles, but they have,” says Eleanor Rotthoff, a resident of Valley View Village Condominiums The condominium complex voted and amended their homeowner’s association bylaws.…
Read MoreNE: Sex offender restrictions go too far
Editorial, 9/19: The village board of Alexandria got some valuable advice from the ACLU about its proposed ordinance that would establish new restrictions on where sex offenders could live. The board ought to take heed. Following the ACLU’s recommendations could help the board steer clear of legal travails. The desire to protect children is understandable. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it. The legal restrictions the board is considering go too far. Full Article September 2013 Alexandria Nebraska Town Board Meeting on Youtube
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