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Sunday, November 19, 2006
Ind. Law - "Jeff might ban sex offenders from parks"
"Jeff might ban sex offenders from parks: Officials like idea, want to know about its constitutionality."
Well, yes. Just take a look at this long list of ILB entries with headings like "Federal Court Rules Sex Offender Ordinance Unconstitutional."
Here are some quotes from today's Louisville Courier Journal story by Ben Zion Hershberg:
A proposed ordinance banning sex offenders from Jeffersonville's parks could be approved by the end of the year — but might face a court challenge to its constitutionality. * * *The ordinance would require that the estimated 60 Jeffersonville residents on the Indiana Sex Offender Registry be notified of its provisions. And signs would have to be posted at city parks saying that those on the registry are banned from entering.
Fetz said he has received letters of support from five members of the public since the proposal was described in published reports. He said he also got a letter from a registered sex offender supporting the concept but suggesting some modifications.
He said he feels confident the ordinance will get broad support. "We're addressing public safety," he said.
But Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, said he believes it could be challenged as a violation of the Indiana constitution, much as his organization is challenging similar ordinances in Indianapolis and Plainfield.
"People have a right to use public parks," Falk said, adding that the ACLU would represent anyone who wanted to challenge the ordinance, if enacted. * * *
Larry Wilder, the lawyer who drafted the proposed ordinance for Fetz, said communities across the country have enacted such laws in recent years to better protect their children.
The wave of ordinances has prompted legal challenges, including the one in Indianapolis. In that case U.S. District Judge Richard Young issued a preliminary injunction last month preventing its enforcement.
The Indianapolis ordinance bans sex offenders from being within 1,000 feet of public playgrounds, pools and youth centers when children are using them.
In his opinion granting the injunction, Young said the ordinance is so broad that it could prevent sex offenders from even traveling through the city.
Wilder said the proposed Jeffersonville ordinance is written much more narrowly —applying only to the grounds of the listed sites and not to any territory around them — and, in his view, won't run afoul of either the U.S. or Indiana constitutions.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 19, 2006 08:01 AM
Posted to Indiana Law