Judge Blocks Part of Ga. Sex Offender Law

[Rhino]

Jun 26, 12:55 PM EDT

Judge Blocks Part of Ga. Sex Offender Law

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday blocked Georgia from targeting eight individuals with its sweeping law that would bar sex offenders from living near school bus stops.

Many states have barred offenders from working and living near schools, but Georgia's law goes farther by restricting them from living or working within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop.......http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SEX_OFFENDERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

[DeclinetoState]

Seems like it would be hard to enforce, since school bus stops (which usually aren't marked, unless practice in Georgia is different) are damn near everywhere.

[Rhino]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Lubbock]

" . . . a lawsuit filed by the Southern Center for Human Rights . . . "

Of course, you do understand that victims don't have any Human Rights, nor does the public have Human Rights.

Only pedophiles, terrorists and other assorted scum have Human Rights.

Put me in charge of it and I'll guaran-damn-tee that sex offenders don't ever get any closer than six feet to any living thing again.

[DeclinetoState]

I'm sure it would be cruel and unusual punishment to keep the convicted sex offenders locked up in the hoosegow.

[Lubbock]

Probably be cruel and unusual to put them six feet under, too.

[gnome]

My take on this:

The school bus stop rule creates a large problem of practicality, as school bus stops are numerous and change frequently. I offer no sympathy to child-rapists... but if they are too dangerous to mingle with the rest of the citizens, the only practical solution is to keep them locked up. You can't have it both ways--to let them out of prison but give them nowhere to live.

I am fully willing to support lifetime imprisonment for anyone too dangerous to be allowed near a bus stop.

Instead, however, we had this. It impacted a friend of mine... her husband, when 18 years old (well before my friend knew him) engaged in an illegal relationship with a girl three years his junior. Certainly wrong. He spent time in prison. He spent years on probation until its term was completed. He is a registered sex offender.

He is not however, a danger to school children. He is not someone who should be forced to sell the home he just bought because the school bus stop law came into effect--or to have to move his home every time a school bus stop is placed near where he already lives.

[hdmundt]

My take on this:

The school bus stop rule creates a large problem of practicality, as school bus stops are numerous and change frequently. I offer no sympathy to child-rapists... but if they are too dangerous to mingle with the rest of the citizens, the only practical solution is to keep them locked up. You can't have it both ways--to let them out of prison but give them nowhere to live.

I am fully willing to support lifetime imprisonment for anyone too dangerous to be allowed near a bus stop.

Instead, however, we had this. It impacted a friend of mine... her husband, when 18 years old (well before my friend knew him) engaged in an illegal relationship with a girl three years his junior. Certainly wrong. He spent time in prison. He spent years on probation until its term was completed. He is a registered sex offender.

He is not however, a danger to school children. He is not someone who should be forced to sell the home he just bought because the school bus stop law came into effect--or to have to move his home every time a school bus stop is placed near where he already lives.

Correct. This law is just another example of how little thought state legislatures put into things that are important. There are other items to consider, too. When schools or childcare facilities are built within 1000 feet of a sex offender, he (the offender) is not going to be required to move - courts won't stand for it (and rightly so). So, in those cases, the law will either be ignored or will have to be ammended (more wasted legislative time). States often don't require very small childcare facilities to be licensed. So, even if you map your offenders against childcare facilities, they'll only be mapped against the licensed ones. Accurate mapping is difficult to achieve in rural areas and/or counties that don't have digital parcel maps available to send to the mapping entity. In short, when it comes to sex-offender laws, states tend to get legislative posturing in lieu of thoughtful, well-researched lawmaking.