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.
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.
posted by Austin O. Jones | 7:28 PM
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