A Bus Stop Too Far?

Here is a quick roundup of news stories related to the uproar over the new State Law which retroactively proscribes distance requirements on registered sex offenders:

From the AJC:

Reprieve for 8 sex offenders
Jill Young Miller - Staff
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

A federal judge on Monday provided a temporary reprieve for eight sex offenders in a ruling that raises questions about the constitutionality of a new Georgia law intended to keep sex offenders away from children.

The ruling prevents the state from enforcing a provision that would ban the sex offenders from living near a school bus stops. While the ruling applies only to the eight plaintiffs in the lawsuit, their attorneys said they will seek to extend it to the remaining 10,000 sex offenders on the state's registry.

Lawyers for the Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed the lawsuit last week, saying the state law would drive thousands of sex offenders from their homes. The law takes effect Saturday.
In granting the eight offenders' request for a temporary restraining order, U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper said the court appreciated the need to protect the public from sex offenders but "does not favor doing so in a manner that offends the Constitution."

Arguments that the law may violate the Constitution's "ex post facto" clause by retroactively banishing plaintiffs from their homes seemed to resonate with Cooper, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Cooper has scheduled another hearing for July 11. In the meantime, Georgia sheriffs, who must enforce the law, are trying to figure out how to proceed.

This spring, the Georgia General Assembly approved and Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law sweeping sex offender legislation that includes a provision banning all registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop.
"It does create inconvenience for sex offenders, there's no doubt about it," Joseph Drolet, senior assistant attorney general for Georgia, told Cooper during the hearing.

Later he added, "We're not apologizing for it being a tough law."

Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, had not yet seen the judge's ruling late Monday afternoon, but he said he would advise sheriffs to carry out the law.

"Except for these eight individuals, no one else on this list can live within 1,000 feet of a bus stop, and . . . sheriffs offices should proceed with enforcement of this provision."

DeKalb Sheriff Thomas Brown, who criticized the law as "unenforceable" last week and said all 490 sex offenders in his county would have to move, said it was unlikely that sex offenders would be arrested under the new law in DeKalb before the July 11 hearing. The process takes time and deputies have other pressing duties, he said.
Brown criticized the new sex offender law both because of the logistical problems and because he said he believed it will drive sex offenders underground.

"This was a rush to pass legislation because it was an election year and somebody wanted to be tough on crime. And what they have done in my opinion is place more people in harm's way," Brown said.

During the hearing, Sarah Geraghty, a lawyer for the Atlanta-based Southern Center, made the same point. For now, law enforcement officers know where sex offenders are and can monitor them, she said. But in five days, without an injunction, "that's going to be gone," she said.

"This act imposes one of the oldest and severest forms of punishment, and that is banishment from the community," she said.

But Drolet, the senior assistant attorney general, said the school bus stops provision was necessary to protect children. "All we're really talking about here is inconvenience to sex offenders," he said. When balancing the needs of sex offenders with the safety of children, "I think the protection of the children wins," he told the judge.

Drolet also said he didn't expect a massive law enforcement roundup of sex offenders this weekend. "I don't know of a district attorney in Georgia who's going to prosecute somebody who is trying to find a place to live," he said.

As of last week, 10,755 registered sex offenders were living in Georgia, with 1,932 of them incarcerated, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The sheriffs group had asked lawmakers to amend the measure so that the 1,000-foot rule would apply only to the most dangerous predators.

"We let them know that we had great concerns about the implementation of that provision," Norris said. "If these people have no other place to live, will they simply go underground and not report at all, and will we lose track of them?"

Staff writers Bill Rankin and David Simpson contributed to this article.


Judge signals sex offender law will face more trouble
Jill Young Miller - Staff
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

A federal judge on Tuesday said in a written order that enforcing part of a law intended to keep sex offenders away from children actually "might result in greater difficulty in monitoring sex offenders."

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper also said he is considering "on an expedited basis" a request to pull all of Georgia's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders into a class for the lawsuit against Gov. Sonny Perdue and others.

The lawsuit, filed last week by the Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, seeks to halt enforcement of part of sweeping sex offender legislation the General Assembly adopted and the governor signed this spring.

The law will drive thousands of sex offenders from their homes, the lawsuit alleges, and threatens to send those who can't find new homes to prison for at least 10 years.

On Monday, Cooper granted a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of a provision that would ban registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school bus stops. But the restraining order only applied to the eight plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit. The law goes into effect Saturday.

Still, Cooper's ruling raised questions about the constitutionality of the new law. "While the Court recognizes and appreciates the importance of protecting the public, the Court cannot approve of doing so in a manner that offends the Constitution," he wrote in the order.

Judges issue such orders when they are convinced that allowing a law to be enforced would cause undue harm to people and when they believe the lawsuits have a reasonable chance of succeeding on their merits.

Nevertheless, the state Attorney General's Office is advising sheriffs to enforce the law except against the eight plaintiffs, said Russ Willard, a spokesman for the office.

As for the rest of the state's registered sex offenders, Willard said: "These individuals have had several months' knowledge of this law. And as of Saturday if they are within 1,000 feet of one of these locations, either bus stop, church, day care facility or other location under the statute, they're in violation of the law."

Attorneys for the eight sex offenders asked the judge on Monday to expand the lawsuit into a class action including all the state's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders.

With the clock ticking toward Saturday, Cooper has asked the state to respond to that motion by 1 p.m. today.

On Tuesday, sheriffs, who must enforce the law, and sex offenders, who must comply with it, were trying to interpret the implications of Cooper's order.
"We've gotten literally hundreds of calls," said Lisa Kung, director of the Southern Center.

"And what has been so impressive is the lengths people are going to to try to comply with this impossible law. It's affecting entire families, most of them very stable, hard-working people who are trying to make it.

"Without a clear TRO [temporary restraining order] that covers everybody, they're going to be thrown into chaos."


All child sex offenders not the same, AG says

By JILL YOUNG MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/29/06

The state attorney general on Wednesday said a federal judge shouldn't lump all of Georgia's sex offenders into one class for a lawsuit challenging the state's new sex offender law.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper is considering whether to expand to all of Georgia's registered sex offenders a temporary restraining order he issued Monday to protect eight who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

At issue is part of a sweeping new law that would ban the state's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school bus stops. The law, intended to keep sex offenders away from children, takes effect on Saturday.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a defendant in the lawsuit, said in court documents filed Wednesday that many of the eight plaintiffs already have found new places to live. And lawyers seeking to have the restraining order expanded to all sex offenders "have offered no statistical information regarding how many individuals are truly unable or unwilling to find alternative living arrangements while these issues are being litigated."

Plaintiffs shouldn't be granted class certification because "the class has not been adequately defined," he said.

Meanwhile, some registered sex offenders aren't waiting on the federal court but have turned to Georgia superior courts for help. On Wednesday, lawyer Ann Fitz said her firm, Conaway & Strickler in Atlanta, is seeking injunctions on behalf of 10 registered sex offenders in Gwinnett, Cobb, Paulding, Cherokee, Fulton, DeKalb, Walton and Carroll counties.

"We are challenging the constitutionality of the school bus stop rule as it applies to the individual," Fitz said.

"All of our clients fall within a category of posing a low to no danger of re-offending," she said. "They are looking at being ousted from their houses and not knowing where to move."

In Cobb County, judges are scheduled to hear today from two sex offenders. In one case, convicted child molester Johnny Harley says in a suit that making him move interferes with his "liberty and his property rights." In the second case, Christopher Wright argues that the offense for which he was convicted — misdemeanor sexual battery — isn't severe enough to warrant inclusion on the registry of sex offenders.

In Henry County, lawyer Thomas Ford represents Angela Michelle Huey-Jackson, a registered sex offender convicted of child molestation and statutory rape. Ford filed Tuesday in Henry County Superior Court for an emergency injunction in Huey-Jackson's case.

This spring, the Legislature approved the sex offender legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island). Keen and others said the tough new law, which also requires lifetime electronic monitoring of some sex offenders, is needed to protect children.

The federal lawsuit, filed last week by the Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, contends that thousands of sex offenders will be driven from their homes if they can't live within 1,000 feet of school bus stops.

Lisa Kung, director of the Southern Center, said Baker's legal response essentially admits "to one of the main problems with the registry, that people who are very different are all treated alike. ...

"What's important now is to maintain stability in both the law and in people's lives," she said. "The court needs to make clear now that it's in the interest of public safety not to kick people out of their homes."

Kathy Jefcoats and Yolanda Rodriguez contributed to this article.

Sex Offenders On the Way Out

From the pages of the AJC:

Law has offenders on the move
Legislation leaves sex violators few options in metro counties

By KATHY JEFCOATS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/22/06

More than 90 percent of the 300-plus registered sex offenders in Clayton and Henry counties will have to move or change jobs in coming weeks, according to sheriff's deputies who track the offenders.

For years, it's been illegal for sex offenders to live within 1,000 feet of schools. A new law that takes effect July 1 makes it illegal for sex offenders to live near any place where children might be, including school bus stops and churches. Offenders will have fewer choices about where to live, work or go to school.

"The law is leaving them with very little options on where they can live," Henry sheriff's Maj. Keith McBrayer said. "It's almost hard to go to any metro county and be in compliance. About the only way to not be in violation is to be in a rural area without kids."

McBrayer said there are 108 active registered sex offenders ("active" does not include registered sex offenders who have absconded or who are incarcerated) in Henry County. Of those, 100 have been sent letters telling them they have to move. In Clayton County, reserve Deputy Ray Sanford said about 90 percent of 216 active registrants have to move.

An additional 38 offenders live in another county but work in Clayton. Those offenders must register with both the county where they live and the county in which they work.

"They are looking at losing their jobs if bus stops or playgrounds are close to where they work," Sanford said. "There's no choice."

Sanford said 100 percent of registrants in one Clayton city will have to relocate. Offenders in violation have seven days to move. Those who fail to comply face jail time.

"We don't want to identify that city because we're afraid they'll take off and run," he said. "If they go underground, we'll have to hunt them, get felony warrants and send them back to prison."

'Our hands are tied'
Since Henry sent out letters about the law, Sanford said he gets 10 calls a day from offenders wanting to relocate to Clayton.

"They [offenders] are very concerned, and I don't blame them," he said. "Everybody's trying to do the right thing, but I am afraid a lot of people will be hurt. But there's nothing we can do about it. Our hands are tied."

Sanford is working on a computerized mapping system to identify places off limits to sex offenders. Clayton sheriff's Deputy Richard Moen verifies the addresses of offenders.

"Right now, we're looking at dots on top of dots," Moen said. "This county is just saturated. There's no place that's not in violation of the law."

First and foremost: school bus stops. Clayton has more than 6,000; Henry's list tops 14,000. But the law also includes places of worship; that sometimes means storefront churches inside strip malls.

Restrictions welcomed

The new law reduces the amount of time an offender has to register, from 10 days to five. The length of time they stay on the registry increases from their term of probation to a lifetime unless offenders pleaded as first offenders.

Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill said he's satisfied with the new restrictions. "I'm glad the law is tough," Hill, a former state representative, said. "I don't feel sorry for them, they shouldn't be out there messing with children."

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard is also pleased. In the past two years, his office has prosecuted a dozen men for online sexual contact with a person they thought was an underage girl. The person was actually an undercover Peachtree City police officer.

"Their lives are about to become very restricted, absolutely," he said. "The state policy is very clear: we're expanding the number of places we don't want perverts living, and we'll apply it to the nth degree."

McBrayer said he's getting calls from people concerned about both sides of the issue. "Citizens want to know what the new law requires," he said. "And sex offenders want to know what they are supposed to do about a place to live. If the law says you can't stay, you gotta go. It really is a big issue, one that affects so many people."

Who Didn't See This Coming?

Tougher law for sex offenders under fire

Jill Young Miller - Staff
Tuesday, June 20, 2006

A class action lawsuit on behalf of Georgia's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders is expected to be filed today in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit challenges sweeping sex offender legislation the state's General Assembly approved this spring and that is set to take effect July 1.

Because of new restrictions that it would impose on where sex offenders can live, work and loiter, the law's "result will be catastrophic," according to a copy of the lawsuit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained Monday.

"Thousands of people on Georgia's sex offender registry will be forced to evacuate their homes, leave their jobs, cease attending church services, and be required, by legislative fiat, to abandon court-mandated treatment programs," the lawsuit says.

The Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia are bringing the lawsuit on behalf of everyone on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's sex offender registry. As of Monday, 10,755 registered sex offenders were living in Georgia, with 1,932 of them incarcerated, according to the GBI.

On Monday, House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) said he remained proud of the sex offender legislation, which he sponsored. "I am confident that it will stand the scrutiny of judicial review at the highest level," he said.

"We knew when we drafted this law that we were casting the net fairly wide. But we put the safety of children in this state above the inconvenience of convicted sex offenders."

The lawsuit will be filed this morning in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Rome, said Sarah Geraghty, a lawyer at the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit law firm in Atlanta that represents prisoners.

It specifically asks the court to halt enforcement of provisions that would ban registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school bus stops across Georgia. The new law "essentially banishes everyone on the registry from the state of Georgia," Geraghty said in an interview Monday. "There are literally hundreds of thousands of school bus stops in Georgia."

The suit also seeks an injunction on banning sex offenders from living or loitering within 1,000 feet of a place of religious worship, saying the legislation "impermissibly bars people on the registry from living at faith-based halfway houses and chills religious participation in violation of federal constitutional and statutory law."

Any sex offender who knowingly violates the law's restrictions faces at least 10 years in prison.

The named defendants are Gov. Sonny Perdue, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and law enforcement officials in Polk County, where two of the named plaintiffs live.
The defendants had not yet seen the lawsuit Monday. But Heather Hedrick, a spokeswoman for Perdue, said in a written statement: "While the ACLU is concerned with the inconvenience to sex offenders of having to move away from schools and playgrounds, the rest of the state of Georgia is more concerned about protecting kids from sexual predators. Georgia will vigorously defend our efforts to keep dangerous criminals away from Georgia's children."

The named plaintiffs include eight people on the registry who "live law-abiding lives as productive members of the community," according to the lawsuit. One is Lori Sue Collins, 44, who until recently lived in Rockdale County at a faith-based halfway house for people recently released from prison, according to the lawsuit. In 2002, she was convicted of statutory rape for having consensual sex with a 15-year-old boy, the lawsuit says. Collins served three years in prison.

This June, she got a letter from the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office telling her she'd have to leave the halfway house because a school bus stop is within 1,000 feet of it. She searched Rockdale, Hall, Barrow, Newton and Henry counties for a place to live that would conform to the new law's requirements, but she came up empty, according to the lawsuit.

Last week, Collins found a temporary home at a residential ministry in Polk County. Her probation officer told her it's not within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. He told her, however, that that may change when school bus routes are assigned for the coming school year.

"It's actually pretty scary," Collins said Monday.

The lawsuit points out that the bill applies to everyone on the sex offender registry without exception. Joseph Linaweaver, 22, of Columbia County, was 16 when he had a consensual act of oral sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend. Now he's preparing to leave his family and move to Wisconsin rather than face being homeless and jobless in Georgia, according to the lawsuit.

A measure similar to Georgia's went into effect last year in Iowa, and now some of its loudest critics are prosecutors and police. They say the Iowa law barring sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or child care center has driven offenders from cities and caused many to become homeless, cluster in motels or vanish from authorities' sight. Iowa prosecutors are calling for a repeal.

The Iowa law was challenged in court and upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Already under current Georgia law, registered sex offenders can't live within 1,000 feet of child care centers, schools and places where children congregate. The new law goes much further, with employment and loitering restrictions and a broader definition of areas where children congregate, including school bus stops.

Said Keen: "This is a one-time inconvenience. We believe it's worth that to make sure that this law works as it was designed. And I don't apologize for that."

Crepe Myrtle Festival - June 10, 2006

Here are a couple of photos (Thanks Mitzi!) from the Crepe Myrtle Festival in Monroe last weekend. Thanks for the invitation and warm welcome!

Amen, brother.

Predators ordinance needed

By Patrick Graham
The Loganville Tribune

Published June 16, 2006

The Loganville City Council is currently considering a new ordinance that would essentially ban a sexual offender from living inside the city limits.

State law already prohibits any offender from loitering, working or living within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school, church or areas where minors congregate.

However, the proposed ordinance would take the state law even further, making it unlawful for any sex crime offender to live within 2,500 feet of any school, designated public school bus stop, day care center, park, playground or other place where children regularly congregate, as measured by respective property lines.

During the first reading of the proposed ordinance, the Council heard an emotional plea from City Manager Bill Jones, who said his family recently learned first hand how a sexual predator operates and was so shaken by the experience he had some difficulty discussing it. He is urging the Council to move forward with the new ordinance in an effort to better protect the city’s children from those who would do them harm.

The Council is scheduled to have a second reading of the ordinance at its July 13 meeting.

A vote on the measure would follow.

Loganville is now the second city locally to consider this type of sexual predator ban.

The City of Snellville was the first, and Loganville’s proposed ordinance is patterned in large measure after Snellville’s.

I expect the ordinance to pass and pass easily. In fact, it should pass unanimously. I can’t imagine which member of the Council is going to want to be viewed politically as the advocate for sexual offender’s rights, but I could be wrong.

Which, of course, begs two questions.

As these kinds of laws continue to move down Hwy. 78, will cities like Monroe and others need to consider similar measures in order to prevent them from becoming a haven for sexual offenders?

If Snellville and Loganville tell sexual predators thanks but no thanks, then these people are going to begin looking for nearby cities without these types of ordinances, and Monroe is just down the road.

The second question then becomes if this trend continues and all cities begin to adopt these types of ordinances, then where exactly will sexual predators eventually be able to live?

To be honest, I’m less concerned about this question. I couldn’t care less, as long as it’s nowhere near me or my family.

Sexual Predator Ordinance - First Reading

From the Gwinnett Daily Post:

Loganville councilman proposes tough sexual predator ordinance
06/10/2006
By Carole Townsend
Staff Correspondent

LOGANVILLE — Councilman Austin Jones, who chairs the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee, presented a sexual predator ordinance Thursday night.
The ordinance, patterned after the one Snellville recently adopted, is stricter than Georgia’s.
The state ordinance does not allow a sexual predator to live within 1,000 feet of a school, bus stop, community park or anywhere children congregate often. Loganville’s ordinance does not allow a sexual predator to live within 2,500 feet of the same places.
Thursday night’s City Council meeting was the first read of the ordinance. Second read will be at the next council meeting, scheduled for July 13.

Sexual Predators Not Welcome

Sex offenders ordinance hits home

By Robbie Schwartz
The Loganville Tribune
Published June 9, 2006 (written after City Council work session, 6/5/06 - AJ)
LOGANVILLE — As city officials took a first look at the proposed sexual offenders and predators ordinance, City Manager Bill Jones said the measure hit close to home.

“We have gone back and forth on this for some time. This is difficult for me — my family became a victim of this,” Jones said during a work session Monday. “I spent (last) Friday with the GBI and the FBI and we learned that someone my son and his wife knew was a sexual predator from outside of this state. This crime is far- reaching.

“We need to pass this. You need to hear this from me that this affected my family and this ordinance is extremely important.”

The city’s proposed sexual offenders and sexual predators ordinance goes above and beyond that of the state, which prohibits any offender from loitering, working or living within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, school, church or areas where minors congregate.

Snellville was the first and now Loganville may become the second to essentially ban a sexual offender from living inside the city limits by adding to the state law.

As does Snellville’s, the Loganville ordinance states that it will be unlawful for any sex crime offender to live within 2,500 feet of any school, designated public school bus stop, day care center, park, playground or other place where children regularly congregate, as measured by respective property lines.

“This strengthens the state statute,” City Attorney Robyn Webb said, adding that the ordinance attempts to address a national problem as well as the likelihood that sexual offenders will repeat their crime.

Violators of the law would face a $500 fine and no more than 60 days in jail for a first offense.

The proposed ordinance also includes that property owners are not allowed to willingly rent property to a known sexual offender, establishes a fine and imprisonment for violators and includes exceptions to the law, for those already living within the city limits.

Under the ordinance, those who already live inside the city limits will be grandfathered in with the ultimate direction of the law to keep new predators from moving in.

Councilman Mark Kiddoo asked if the additional 1,500 feet was truly necessary, asking if there were pockets of the city not covered by the state law taking into consideration the many bus stops as well as churches and other areas covered by existing law.

“We are 80 percent residential,” Kiddoo said. “Are there pockets not covered by the state law? If the state law covers all of the city, it seems that we are just piling on something not necessary.”

Questions were also raised about what constitutes an area where children regularly congregate. It was later decided the state definition would be applied.

The council will have a second reading of the ordinance at its July 13 meeting.

Protecting Our Children

From the Gwinnett Daily Post:

Loganville will consider sexual predator ordinance

05/14/2006
By Carole Townsend
Staff Correspondent

LOGANVILLE — The city’s newest council member, Austin Jones, spoke up at Thursday night’s council meeting in favor of enacting a sexual predator ordinance similar to the one Snellville recently adopted.
“Our most important resource is our children. Anything less than what Snellville has on the books will be unsatisfactory,” Jones said. “If (sexual predators) can’t live there, the next logical place for them to go is Loganville.”
Drafting and adopting a Loganville sexual predator ordinance will be an agenda item for the June council meeting, which will be held the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

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