[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Some members of our society are shadow people, so marginalized that they are hanging on by their fingernails. Some have a slightly firmer grip, but they are perched precariously close to the edge, so close that they can be hurled into the abyss by a mere word, accusation, or click of a mouse. In Florida colonies of these shadow people survive, sleeping at night in the woods, under bridges, and in railroad yards, and now the man who is almost solely responsible for this…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions
FL: Four years after being called out on poor public policy, Florida is STILL putting children at risk
[sosen.org] On April 14, 2014, A national coalition of members of CURE, CURE-SORT, FAC, USA Fair and WAR members joined together to ask Florida legislators, “Why are the many children and families of former offenders being placed in danger from missed opportunities of effective legislation?” “Are the children of citizens on the sex offender registry less valuable to law makers?” Nearly four full years later, we are still awaiting a satisfactory answer. As of May 24, 2017, there were 69,917 people listed on the Florida state sex offender registry and…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota Federal District Court Enjoins West St. Paul Sex Offender Ordinance
[floridaactioncommittee.org] In a decision issued today, the Federal Court for the District of Minnesota granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a West St. Paul sex offender residency restriction. Calling it a close call in light of 8th Circuit precedent that previously found SORRs constitutional, the Judge found that the West St. Paul Ordinance is significantly more restrictive than those upheld by the Eighth Circuit and was persuaded by the recent persuasive precedent from other federal circuits (including our 11th Circuit) which found otherwise. Read more
Read MoreMN: Minnesota sex offenders challenge a city’s ban
[startribune.com] Three convicted rapists awaiting release from state custody are suing the city of Dayton, Minn., over an ordinance that virtually bans them from living in the city, arguing that the measure violates their Constitutional rights and is trumped by state law. The men are challenging a far-reaching 2016 ordinance that bars convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school, day care center, park, playground, public bus stop — even a pumpkin patch or apple orchard — within the city of Dayton, a rural community of about…
Read MoreFL: Call To Action: Miami-Dade to Consider Bovo Amendment Tomorrow
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Tomorrow, at the regular meeting of county commissioners, the “Bovo Amendment” will be considered. The Amendment seeks to remove a safeguard contained in the overnight camping ordinance that would require homeless who are sleeping overnight on public property, be afforded the opportunity to go to a homeless shelter before being arrested. In other words, Miami-Dade wants the ability to arrest homeless sex offenders on sight. More specifically, since the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust Chair could not find a solution to the transient sex offender problem in 10 years, his…
Read MoreMA: Westfield officials hesitant to repeal sex offender ordinance despite high court ruling
One resident and several councilors spoke out against repealing the city’s sex offender ordinance Thursday at the Westfield City Council meeting. The ordinance restricts where registered sex offenders may live and establishes “child safety zones” where offenders are not allowed. But a 2015 Supreme Judicial Court ruling indicates such ordinances are unconstitutional. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Westfield moves to repeal unconstitutional sex offender ordinance
[masslive.com] By Hope E. Tremblay Special to The Republican WESTFIELD – The City Council’s legislative and ordinance subcommittee Thursday took the first step toward repealing a local ordinance that unconstitutionally restricts where registered sex offenders may live or visit. The motion to repeal the ordinance was made by Chairman Ralph J. Figy, who said a decision by the state Supreme Judicial Court indicates the ordinance goes against the state constitution. First Assistant City Solicitor Shanna R. Reed said Westfield has not received any notification from the state regarding the ordinance,…
Read MoreCA: Federal Court Limits Residency Restrictions to Parolees
A federal district court ruled on Dec. 22 that residency restrictions adopted by cities and counties may only be applied to registrants while on parole. “This is a significant victory for registrants and their families,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The Court’s decision dramatically reduces the ability of a city or a county to restrict where a registrant may live.” According to the court’s decision, the general rule is that local governments are preempted by state law from adopting laws that restrict the daily lives of registrants because state law “fully occupies” the field of…
Read MoreVT: City won’t fight sex offender ruling
The Board of Aldermen will not challenge a superior court’s decision that strikes down a city ordinance restricting where convicted sex offenders can live in Rutland. … Hoar’s ruling said Rutland had “not meaningfully articulated” the danger posed by sex offenders and said the city “declares plaintiffs nuisances for no discernible activity but drawing breath.” “What the city has done here is effectively to declare an entire class of persons to be a public nuisance by simple virtue of their physical existence,” Hoar said. “Plaintiffs have been convicted and punished;…
Read MoreWI: Sun Prairie alders eye sex offender residency ordinance changes after lawsuit threats
[hngnews.com] Convicted sex offenders are threatening to file lawsuits over an ordinance that restricts where they can live in the City of Sun Prairie. City officials plan to head off litigation by considering changes to the city ordinance next week. It’s something other Wisconsin municipalities dealt with this year after a federal court ruled that ordinances restricting where convicted sex offenders could live were unconstitutional. Registered sex offenders aren’t allowed to live or loiter within 1,500 feet of a school, daycare center, park, playground, church, and other places where children…
Read MoreVT: Judge strikes down Rutland’s limits on where sex offenders can live
[vtdigger.org] RUTLAND — A judge has shot down an ordinance in Rutland that limited where convicted sex offenders can live in the community. “The case hinges on the question whether the City of Rutland has the power to declare people nuisances,” Rutland Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar wrote recently in the strongly worded 13-page ruling. “It does not.” The ordinance, which the city’s Board of Aldermen adopted in 2008, prohibited any offender convicted of a sex crime against a child from living in the city within 1,000 feet of…
Read MoreFL: Oconomowoc tweaks sex offender residency restrictions in wake of federal court decision
[Florida Journal Sentinel] CITY OF OCONOMOWOC – The common council on Tuesday, Dec. 5, voted to repeal and replace the city’s 2011 ordinance outlining residency restrictions for registered sex offenders, joining a handful of other area communities to do so in the wake of lawsuits and a federal court decision earlier this year. Under the new rules, registered sex offenders who did not live in the city at the time of their offense could petition the common council to move into Oconomowoc. Such offenders are currently barred from attempting…
Read MoreFL: Inside the Remote, Little-Known Sanctuary for Sex Offenders
Seen from a distance, perhaps from a low-flying helicopter, or standing a few hundred feet away on a road that cuts through the green sugarcane surrounding it, Miracle Village, in Central Florida outside of Pahokee, looks like it could be a modest retirement community. Perhaps a modern-day off-the-grid commune, carved from a little spot of remote farmland. Miracle Village, though, is neither. It is a community devoted entirely to housing convicted sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Former sex offender challenges residence restrictions
On Oct. 2, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in Snyder v Doe, a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said that Michigan’s sex offender registration law violated the Ex Post Facto Clause’s ban on retroactive punishment. The law restricted where former sex offenders could live. The 6th Circuit is at odds with many other opinions that have rejected constitutional challenges to sex offender laws, but that didn’t convince the Supreme Court to take the case. The court invited the Solicitor General…
Read MoreCA: Why Highland is repealing its sex offender residency ordinances
The city of Highland is repealing its residency restrictions on sex offenders, two years after the state Supreme Court deemed similar restrictions unconstitutional. The City Council has agreed to repeal its ordinance, which prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of public or private schools and parks, after receiving a threat of litigation from Sacramento-based attorney Janice Bellucci. Full Article
Read MoreCA: City Council repeals sex offender residency ordinance
Facing the threat of another costly lawsuit the Highland City Council voted 3-2 to repeal a city ordinance prohibiting registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and other locations identified for children’s use, Nov. 14. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Sex offenders settle lawsuit over living in ‘school zones’
Three Grand Rapids men on Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry have settled a federal lawsuit against the state over housing requirements that restrict where they can live. Full Article
Read MoreIL: For Illinois Sex Offenders, Six Years Can Turn Into Life In Prison
[WBEZ News radio] J.D. Lindenmeier completed his six-year prison sentence in 2011, but he hasn’t been released because he has nowhere to go. Inmates call these extra years behind bars “dead time.” The Rockford native committed a sex crime, and in order to get out of prison he has to meet the state’s long list of rigid parole requirements for those convicted of predatory criminal sexual assault. He could remain behind bars for the rest of his life if he doesn’t find appropriate housing. For Lindenmeier, that means finding a…
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