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Sunday, August 19, 2007
Ind. Law - Again: Do the changes to the sex offender law mean longtime homeowners must move?
Updating a long list of entries on this topic, today the Lafayette Journal & Courier's Sophia Voravong reports under the headline "Third lawsuit filed in Tippecanoe on behalf of sex offenders." some quotes:
Another John Doe lawsuit has been filed in Tippecanoe County -- this one attacking how officials interpreted a law that ordered sex offenders against children to move.Ken Falk, an attorney with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, filed the complaint on behalf of his anonymous client on Aug. 9 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1.
His argument is that the legislation, which took effect July 1, 2006, should not apply to anyone who was convicted of a child sex crime before that date.
"I think this was a reflective response by the legislators to try and do something to protect children," Falk said this past week. "But what they're doing is not turning out to be positive."
Confusion comes from the statute's legislative history, which says it applies "only to crimes committed after June 30, 2006."
The lawsuit is the third one filed to date in Tippecanoe County challenging a state law that prohibits offenders against children from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public park or youth program center.
Together, they make up a handful of lawsuits that have been filed in Indiana in recent months. * * *
Here's the status of the other John Doe cases in Tippecanoe County:
- A man who has lived in the Lafayette home owned by his in-laws for seven years filed a petition July 10 asking to no longer be considered a threat to children.
A new law took effect July 1 that allows certain offenders to request that the designation be removed.
The man, convicted in 1988 of child molestation, is waiting to be evaluated by two psychiatrists, as ordered by Judge Don Johnson of Tippecanoe Superior Court 1.
Johnson denied the man's request for a preliminary injunction to stay in his home during pending litigation.
His attorney, Chad Montgomery of the Earl McCoy Law Firm, is considering filing with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
- A hearing date has not been set yet in the lawsuit of a Lafayette man who has less than four years before he'll be taken off the Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry.
His attorney, Earl McCoy, filed petitions Aug. 9 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 challenging the state law requiring his client to move. The man was convicted of child seduction in 2000.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 19, 2007 09:18 AM
Posted to Indiana Law