Hmmm, if they don't register because they don't have a home, they go back to jail. Seems like we're fixing a couple of things there - sex offender back off the streets and in custody, and sex offender has a home. No brainer!
ATLANTA --- A strict new Georgia law is designed to keep sex offenders away from children by monitoring how close they live to schools, parks and other spots where kids gather -- and threatens them with strict penalties if they don't register.
But what about the offenders who don't have an address?
Georgia's Supreme Court on Monday considered whether the law unfairly subjects homeless offenders to a life sentence if they don't register a home address.
The case involves William James Santos, a homeless man and convicted sex offender who was kicked out of a Gainesville homeless shelter in July 2006 and was arrested three months later on charges he did not register with Georgia's sex offender list.
His lawyers say the law creates a guessing game for Mr. Santos and other homeless offenders because it bars them from giving a post office box or simply saying they are homeless.
They also argue that homeless offenders will become a prime target for the measure's tough criminal penalties, which call for a mandatory life in prison sentence for offenders who don't register their address for a second time.
"These sex offenders, unfortunate enough to have no street address, are subject to life in prison," said Adam Levin, an attorney for Mr. Santos.
"This gives Mr. Santos and every other sex offender with no address no other right but to fail to comply with the law."
Prosecutors warn that allowing offenders to claim homelessness is a risk.
It could "invite sex offenders to not enter a lease, not purchase a property, to declare themselves homeless," said assistant district attorney Vanessa Sykes.
Ms. Sykes contended the law can be interpreted to give the homeless some leeway to mark down a temporary address, such as a shelter.
But that can lead to a cumbersome process. The homeless offenders who move from spot to spot would have to notify the local sheriff's department each time, she said.
The Santos challenge is among a growing number of cases targeting Georgia's sex offender law.
It bans sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather. That includes schools, churches, parks, gyms, swimming pools or school bus stops.
The Georgia Supreme Court last week heard arguments targeting the section that mandates a life prison sentence for sex offenders who twice fail to register.
A federal lawsuit filed last month claims that a provision banning sex offenders from volunteering at churches is illegal. And federal courts are considering challenges to provisions that would evict offenders who live near churches and school bus stops.
Mr. Santos' attorneys asked the court to declare the law illegal because it amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment."
But they told the justices they hope the court's decision will at least give the homeless a "safety valve" to put down a general location, such as a street or a park.
Comments
Hmmm, if they don't register because they don't have a home, they go back to jail. Seems like we're fixing a couple of things there - sex offender back off the streets and in custody, and sex offender has a home. No brainer!
Oh this is a guy right down JRHCs line (LOL) and I quote, In 1990, defendant was convicted of attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct and being a second habitual offender and was sentenced to five to seven and a half years' imprisonment"...but it gets better ...Defendant had prior convictions for sodomy in 1974, trespassing in 1977, OUIL in 1983 and 1987, attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1990, and disturbing the peace in 1998. There was also a charge of driving with a suspended license pending against defendant which arose about two months after he was arraigned for the SORA violation."
A Michigan criminal dumped on Georgia
my question is why do sex offenders have to register but convicted murderers dont,i would certainly like to know if my neighbor had killed several people in his lifetime.
Let the poor homless sex offender move in with Mr. Levin if he feels so strongly about his position. Again, do the crime, do the time. Society did not ask him to sexually offend another human being; nor did it put him on the street. This individual made his own decisions in his life, but now he wants some type of restitution for makint those decisions. I say..."tough!'"
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/
I want to first start off with saying I am NOT pro-pedophile or pro-sex offender but pro-Constitution. I am totally against any form of abuse to any animal or human being. Anybody who commits any crime should be punished. But, once that person has done the time they were convicted under, via contract, and is off parole and/or probation, they should be able to get on with their lives without all the rules and regulations. No other criminal has to live by such draconian laws, so why sex offenders? If we must do this for sex offenders, then I think, to be fair, all criminals must be under similar rules and regulations.
When an ex-offender is forced to move from his/her home, thus having to sell it, cannot find another home within the law due to the residency "buffer" zones, get fired from their jobs due to being on the registry, cannot find a new job due to being on the registry, their husband/wife lose their jobs due to a significant other being on the registry, their children lose their friends and are harassed and bullied in school due to a family member being on the registry, thus destroying the children's lives, ex-offenders are forced int
ask yourself's why there is a class action law suit for the stupid law? before you all continue to critize someone you really know nothing about.
I don't think sex offenders should register either... I think they should spend more time behind bars period!!!!!!!! The registries are not current anyway!!! I know a 3 time child molester ( not teen sex, a str8 up pedophile)who is free now not serving hardly any time and the registry does not even have his correct name they have his son's name on it!!!!!!!!!! and in the other state he offended in he was taken off the registry!!!!... who cares if he registers.. he should not be out of jail period... end the registry and lengthen the sentences dramatically!!!!! Takes care of both situations!!!!!! Sickos!!!!!!
How many "homeless" sex offenders frrquent Mercy Ministries ?
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