Toxic Waste: Sex offenders go country
While some of the Iowa’s largest cities, like Des Moines, have become virtually off limits for those convicted of sex crimes involving children, the new rules have pushed many to live in groups away from their families, in places like the Ced-Rel, or the Red Carpet Inn in nearby Bouton, where nine offenders rent rooms.
Michele Costigan, whose driveway is right across Highway 30 from the Ced-Rel in this rural stretch just outside Cedar Rapids, said she had stopped leaving any of her four children at home alone, had told them to dial 911 if anyone they did not recognize pulled into the family driveway, and was considering moving.
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As the article notes, Iowa is not alone in its crackdown on sex offenders, and many towns and local communities are pushing for even tougher restrictions. We are definitely seeing a race to the bottom:
The statute has set off a law-making race in the cities and towns of Iowa, with each trying to be more restrictive than the next by adding parks, swimming pools, libraries and bus stops to the list of off-limits places. Fearful that Iowa’s sex offenders might seek refuge across state lines, six neighboring states have joined the frenzy.
“We don’t want to be the dumping ground for their sex offenders,” said Tom Brusch, the mayor of Galena, Ill., which passed an ordinance in January.
One consequence of the crackdown is that fewer sex offenders are registering, being unable to find legally acceptable accommodations . One sheriff reported going from 90% compliance to just of 50% since the passage of the new law.
March 25th, 2006 04:52
[...] Following up on my post from last week. the Dayton Daily News had a story on the impact in Ohio: Law forces sex offenders to move. Some are fighting back. Does making sex offenders move really make children safer? covers the story of a 5 year old man, caring for his ailing spouse who is appealing a court order requiring him to relocate due to a 2005 law in Ohio prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school: The order was appealed Feb. 7 to the Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals by lawyers from the Ohio Justice and Policy Center in Cincinnati. Among the nonprofit office’s missions is helping convicted sex offenders get back on their feet, said Stephen JohnsonGrove, a center lawyer. . . . “There may be people, indeed, who shouldn’t be living within 1,000 feet of a school, but offenders are approached with such a broad paint brush,” JohnsonGrove said. “I simply want people to consider the level of damage that this is doing to people’s lives, and there is no evidence this is going to help anything.” [...]