Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Sex Offender Residency Challenge

A Cincinnati Post article back on Sept. 6th. reports “sex offenders who are longtime residents of a school neighborhood should be sheltered from Ohio’s new sex offender residency law,” according to lawyers filing suit in U.S. District Court.

David Singleton, executive director of the Prison Reform Advocacy Center, a nonprofit public interest group whose stated mission is to “remedy unconstitutional and dangerous conditions of confinement for Ohio prisoners, and to empower prisoners and ex-offenders to become contributing members of society,” filed the 30-page class-action complaint April 6th. and appeared before the U.S. District Court on Sept. 6th..

The Prison Reform Advocacy Center and Ohio Attorney General’s Office both have statements posted on their respective websites.

Ohio’s sexual predator law is embodied in Chapter 2950 of the Revised Code, with the residency requirements being specified in § 2950.031. The residency restriction went into effect on July 31, 2003, with minor amendments taking effect April 29, 2005. SB 5 (2003) established the rule prohibiting sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, and gave landlords the right to evict those who did, back in 2003. (See ORC §5321.051 and 5321.03 ).

Questions such as this concerning the rights of sex offenders have been expressed elsewhere, such as in a New York Times article on Aug. 22nd. (registration required)

Marci Hamilton and Julie Hilden had articles on the constitutionality of “pedophile-free zones” on Findlaw last month.

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