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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ind. Decisions - Updating: Do the changes to the sex offender law mean longtime homeowners must move?
Updating this ILB entry from Dec. 18, 2007 on the three cases pending in Tippecanoe County, Sophia Vorovong of the Lafayette Journal Courier reports today:
Two Tippecanoe County judges ruled Tuesday that the safety of the community's children trumps objections raised by two sex offenders -- upset that they had to move.The men filed separate anonymous civil complaints challenging a recent state law that prohibits offenders against children from living within 1,000 feet of a school, youth program center or public park.
At issue is whether they are being punished again, years after being released from prison.
"Had the Indiana General Assembly simply sought to penalize sex offenders if they had ever lived near a school or park, that would imply some sort of vendetta against the sex offenders themselves," Judge Don Daniel of Tippecanoe Circuit Court wrote in his six-page ruling.
"In this case, the General Assembly simply seeks to prohibit current behavior -- that of a sex offender, someone who poses a risk to our children -- from residing in zones with greater concentrations of children."
Daniel presided over a lawsuit filed last August by a man with three felony convictions for child molesting and attempted child molesting, most recently in 1991. Known only as John Doe in court documents, he has to register for life on Indiana's Sex and Violent Offender Registry.
John Doe's home is near a Lafayette school.
His attorney, Ken Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, argued that the state law, which took effect July 1, 2006, should not apply to anyone convicted of a child sex crime before that date.
Daniel instead granted summary judgment to the defendants: Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington, Sheriff Tracy Brown and the city of Lafayette.
Falk said Tuesday that he was disappointed in the ruling, but declined further comment because he had not yet seen Daniel's decision.
"The only step we can take now is to continue litigation through appeals," he said. "I will have to talk to my client about that."
In a separate lawsuit, Tippecanoe Superior Court 1 Judge Don Johnson on Tuesday denied a man's petition to no longer be considered a threat to children. The man, known only as John A. Doe in court documents, also asked to be taken off the state's registry.
John A. Doe was convicted in White County in 1988 of molesting an 11-year-old. He filed a request for preliminary injunction last July using a law that took effect July 1, 2007, allowing offenders to petition the court to look at whether he or she is still considered an offender against children.
This can only be done 10 years after the offender is released. A petition can be filed once a year.
Johnson based his ruling on evaluations by two psychiatrists who found that John A. Doe's sexual behavior puts him at higher risk. * * *
Two Tippecanoe County judges ruled Tuesday that the safety of the community's children trumps objections raised by two sex offenders -- upset that they had to move.
The men filed separate anonymous civil complaints challenging a recent state law that prohibits offenders against children from living within 1,000 feet of a school, youth program center or public park.
At issue is whether they are being punished again, years after being released from prison.
"Had the Indiana General Assembly simply sought to penalize sex offenders if they had ever lived near a school or park, that would imply some sort of vendetta against the sex offenders themselves," Judge Don Daniel of Tippecanoe Circuit Court wrote in his six-page ruling.
"In this case, the General Assembly simply seeks to prohibit current behavior -- that of a sex offender, someone who poses a risk to our children -- from residing in zones with greater concentrations of children."
Daniel presided over a lawsuit filed last August by a man with three felony convictions for child molesting and attempted child molesting, most recently in 1991. Known only as John Doe in court documents, he has to register for life on Indiana's Sex and Violent Offender Registry.
John Doe's home is near a Lafayette school.
His attorney, Ken Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, argued that the state law, which took effect July 1, 2006, should not apply to anyone convicted of a child sex crime before that date.
Daniel instead granted summary judgment to the defendants: Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington, Sheriff Tracy Brown and the city of Lafayette.
Falk said Tuesday that he was disappointed in the ruling, but declined further comment because he had not yet seen Daniel's decision.
"The only step we can take now is to continue litigation through appeals," he said. "I will have to talk to my client about that."
In a separate lawsuit, Tippecanoe Superior Court 1 Judge Don Johnson on Tuesday denied a man's petition to no longer be considered a threat to children. The man, known only as John A. Doe in court documents, also asked to be taken off the state's registry.
John A. Doe was convicted in White County in 1988 of molesting an 11-year-old. He filed a request for preliminary injunction last July using a law that took effect July 1, 2007, allowing offenders to petition the court to look at whether he or she is still considered an offender against children.
This can only be done 10 years after the offender is released. A petition can be filed once a year.
Johnson based his ruling on evaluations by two psychiatrists who found that John A. Doe's sexual behavior puts him at higher risk.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 20, 2008 07:53 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions