Sex offender parolees test Jessica's Law housing limits in court

Contra Costa Times ^ | 12/22/10 | John Simerman

[SmithL]

Hundreds of paroled sex offenders are winning reprieves from a ban against their living near schools or parks as they flood local courts with constitutional challenges to the most controversial part of Jessica's Law.

Judges in Contra Costa and elsewhere have routinely issued stays permitting sex offender parolees to ignore the ban on their living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children "regularly gather," pending rulings in their cases.

The slow pace of those challenges means the stays could last until their parole terms expire and the restrictions no longer affect them.

In the East Bay, at least a few dozen sex offenders have challenged the ban.

"I am seeing more, that's for sure," said Martinez attorney David Briggs.

Contra Costa judges have assigned him to represent about 16 parolee sex offenders seeking freedom to live where they want. In each case, he said, judges have barred enforcement of the law.

[Misplaced Texan]

Don’t parole them.

[ColdOne]

I have an idea........

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

In many places, these restrictions are such that there is literally no place in a town’s city limits where such an individual can live. And while even this may seem reasonable for a dangerous Class III repeat offender, a large number of “sex offenders” are listed as such for even petty offenses.

Perhaps the pettiest of these are people who were intoxicated and urinated in public. Hardly a menace to society. Likewise are couples who are discovered having sex in public. Again listed as “sex offenders” for life.

So one suggested means of getting around the situation is both to limit these strong exclusion zones to just the worst of offenders, and for the State to provide something like a “gated community” for the rest. Something like an apartment building surrounded by a chain link fence.

As it is written, the laws are that they cannot “live” near places like schools. This problem is solved if they are “checked in”, with the fence closed, in their apartment during school hours, or if they are “checked in” at work, during the same time. This actually provides *better* security for the children at school from these adults.

And it can also provide an alibi if there is an incident in the vicinity, since police automatically look for registered sex offenders when there is an incident.

[clee1]

While I’m totally FOR the swift execution of child molesters, all “sex offenders” don’t fall into that category.

Keep em in jail for life; execute them.... I really don’t care.

IF, however, they are released from jail, they have to live “somewhere”.

In GA, there was a law restricting “sex offenders” from living anywhere within 1000’ of schools, churches, shopping centers, day care centers, or SCHOOL BUS STOPS. This effectively mean that the could not live anywhere in the State, and were forbidden to leave by the terms of their parole.

While you’ll never get me to argue against the punishment of sex offenders, making it impossible to find a place to legally reside is fundamentally unjust.

[Forgotten Amendments]

If a law is named after someone, it is no doubt an unconstitutional atrocity.

[Tax-chick]

That’s a good one!

[Tamzee]

I spent several years working internet pedophile investigations. I remember one convicted and paroled child molester bragging to the other pedophiles in a newsgroup about the apartment he lived in that was right next to the primary school and overlooked the playground. He regularly teased and provoked his fellow pedo friends as he described the buffet below in sexual detail.

Visual stimulation leads to increased desire to molest again and close proximity to an abundance of the coveted children leads to increased opportunity to find an unguarded victim.

Sooooo.... too damn bad if they have to search a little harder for an apartment or house that fits the rules, they chose that future when they raped an innocent child for perverse sexual pleasure.

[ridesthemiles]

There are definately places in Georgia where they would not be in violation of these distance restrictions.

Didn’t the Atlanta Olympic bomber hide out in those woods for a very long time????

Let the perverts go play Survivor.

[clee1]

I’d personally rather the perverts be put to death or kept in prison!

The problem is that most “sex offenders” are NOT child molesters.... the vast majority are indecent exposure (pi$$ing behind a tree in a park) or (as in an infamous case here in GA) an 18-years-an-a-few-days-old boy and his 17+ year old (above the age of consent) girlfriend.

You CANNOT let people out of prison, then condemn them to live illegally in primitive conditions such as the Unibomber cabin; regardless of their crime.

The Court that overturned the GA law concluded that there was NO place in GA that met the requirements.

[newzjunkey]

Courts also said they have to be released in the neighborhoods/communities they came from but I'm not sure how strict that is.

I have vague memories of some kind of sex offender parolee trailer near Donovan State Prison in San Diego County. I don't knot its current status, just hearing about it once on local talk. It's also mentioned at the SD DA's website: http://www.sdcda.org/preventing/sex-offenders/index.php

CA prisons are ridiculously overcrowded and no new prisons are being built so if the law changed to require perpetual incarceration for these offenders the state has no where to house them.