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.
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.
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