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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ind. Law - "Lebanon mulls sex-offender ban: City is drafting an ordinance to keep convicts out of parks"

Robert Annis reports today in the Indianapolis Star:

LEBANON, Ind. -- This city in Boone County might follow other Indiana communities in adopting an ordinance to ban convicted sex offenders from local parks. * * *

More than 50 registered sex offenders live in the city, a handful within a few blocks of public parks. * * *

Several Indiana cities, including Plainfield, Greenwood, Lafayette, Michigan City and Jeffersonville, have banned sex offenders from municipal parks, only to be hit with lawsuits.

Last month, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Jeffersonville officials unconstitutionally barred Eric Dowdell, Clarksville, from attending baseball games in a public park. The court ruled the ordinance didn't apply to Dowdell because he was no longer required to be on the sex offender list. Although the court sided with Dowdell, it didn't strike down the ordinance.

In 2005, a Marion County man successfully sued Plainfield over its sex-offender ban, but Plainfield prevailed on appeal. Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, argued that it constituted excessive punishment to close part of a community to a convict who had served his sentence.

The Plainfield case could be heard this year by the Indiana Supreme Court, which also might review the Jeffersonville case.

A federal judge declared Indianapolis' ban unconstitutional in 2006. The ban extended 1,000 feet around parks and schools, a distance judges deemed too unwieldy.

The ACLU's Falk said wanting to protect children was a noble goal, but he questioned whether such bans were effective.

"If a sex offender is going to a park (for criminal purposes), is a fine going to deter them from a crime they could go to prison for?" Falk asked.

"Some of these sex offenders may have committed their offenses years and years ago and may not be at risk of repeating their mistakes. . . . Where do we stop? Do we ban them from other public areas as well?"

All of the above "mentions" may be found in this long list of earlier ILB entries mentioning "sex offender" and "parks".

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 16, 2009 08:39 AM
Posted to Indiana Law