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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Ind. Law - More on: Jeffersonville bans sex offenders from parks

This Jan. 9, 2007 ILB entry quotes a Louisville Courier Journal report that "Jeffersonville City Council voted unanimously last night to adopt an ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from city parks."

At the time: "Larry Wilder, the lawyer who wrote the ordinance, has said he believes it would withstand a legal challenge." Ken Falk, the legal director of the Indiana Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "He thinks such 'blanket bans' violate rights guaranteed by the Indiana Constitution."

Today's story, by Harold J. Adams, includes the following quotes:

The Indiana Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging a Jeffersonville ordinance that prohibits convicted sex offenders from entering city parks.

"People in Indiana have a right to enter parks absent some proof that they present a harm to others," Ken Falk, legal director of the ICLU, said yesterday.

The ordinance, passed by the City Council in January, is unconstitutional, Falk contends.

But Larry Wilder, the attorney who wrote the ordinance for the council, said yesterday it "certainly should pass constitutional muster."

The suit was filed in Clark Superior Court on July 3 on behalf of Eric Dowell, who lives in Clarksville but coaches his son on a youth baseball team that plays some games in Jeffersonville.

Dowell was convicted of sex abuse in 1996, served a three-year suspended sentence and spent a required 10 years on the Indiana Sex Offender Registry, according to the lawsuit.

He went to Jeffersonville City Court in April to ask for permission to enter the parks under a provision in the ordinance that allows a judge to grant exemptions to the ban, particularly for people who have close relatives participating in city park activities.

But Judge R. Scott Lewis denied the petition at a May 9 hearing, citing Dowell's failure to bring several required documents to the hearing and his domestic battery conviction in 2000.

Falk said Dowell presented the required documents certifying his conviction, probation status and other matters to the court after the hearing, but on the same day.

Wilder, however, said the city court staff told him no such documents were received.

Dowell and Falk contend the documents should not matter because the ordinance denied Dowell's rights without justification and amounts to punishment against people who have fulfilled their legal obligations.

Wilder said the council "felt that it was prudent" to have such a ban to protect children in the community.

The council amended the ordinance in March to specify conditions under which a judge could grant an exemption. Those conditions can include no longer being on the sex offender registry; completion of probation or parole; completion of counseling; being employed; or having a son, daughter or other close relative participating in activities in a city park and being with that relative.

Here is a long list of related ILB entries.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 14, 2007 01:21 PM
Posted to Indiana Law