06-19-2006, 11:15 PM
Developments bar sex offenders
Posted 6/15/2006 11:11 PM ET
USA TODAY :lol:
Private housing developers are joining a surging number of communities that are telling convicted sex offenders who need a place to live: "Not in my backyard."
A Texas-based company, I&S Investment Group, is breaking ground this summer on a 154-lot development in Lenexa, Kan., that will bar registered sex offenders. If someone is convicted of a sex crime while living there, the subdivision will fine the person $1,500 daily until he or she moves. The group has sold out all 150 lots in its first such development in Lubbock, Texas, begun 10 months ago, and plans to offer 250 more lots there this fall.
"The sex offender deal has improved demand. It's probably increased our sales three to four times," says I&S partner Clayton Isom, 24. "We're fighting sex offenders head on."
Another Texan, Taylor Goodman, today launched a website, Blockwatcher.com, listing homes for sale that have no registered sex offenders living within a half-mile radius. He says only 20% of available homes will qualify.
"These guys are just everywhere," Goodman says of roughly 567,000 sex offenders registered nationwide. The site carries disclaimers, however, noting that thousands of offenders haven't registered and thousands more have listed phony addresses.
The new private efforts complement an accelerating push by states and cities to bar sex offenders from living near schools or playgrounds. Hundreds of cities, including more than a dozen this year alone, have approved such ordinances, some of which block out entire downtowns.
At least 15 states have enacted such laws, including three (Nebraska, Mississippi and South Dakota) that did so for the first time this year and two (Georgia and Indiana) that expanded prior restrictions. Others, including California and Pennsylvania, restrict offenders on parole or probation. The restrictions have increased despite U.S. data showing sex crimes against children have decreased in the last decade.
"It's grown out of public demand" fueled by media coverage of high-profile cases, says Blake Harrison, analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Nobody wants them (sex offenders) in their backyard."
Several restrictions on where sex offenders can live, including Iowa's statewide law, have been upheld in court.
Banning sex offenders from private property does not violate the Fair Housing Act, but restrictions by states and cities are worrisome, says Brett Shirk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas & Western Missouri.
"Everybody wants a sex offender-free neighborhood, but it is an unfortunate fact, they are going to live somewhere," he says. "What's going to happen is they're going to go underground and create a nightmare for law enforcement."
The restrictions may give a false sense of security, because they do not bar offenders from traveling into a prohibited area, says Carolyn Atwell-Davis of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The private group prefers better tracking of offenders, workplace restrictions and increased penalties for non-registration.
The bans focus on strangers, but parents need to understand that 80% of offenders know their victims, says John La Fond, author of Preventing Sexual Violence: How Society Should Cope With Sex Offenders.
He says as more communities impose restrictions, neighboring ones will pass copycat laws for their own protection.
Posted 6/15/2006 11:11 PM ET
USA TODAY :lol:
Private housing developers are joining a surging number of communities that are telling convicted sex offenders who need a place to live: "Not in my backyard."
A Texas-based company, I&S Investment Group, is breaking ground this summer on a 154-lot development in Lenexa, Kan., that will bar registered sex offenders. If someone is convicted of a sex crime while living there, the subdivision will fine the person $1,500 daily until he or she moves. The group has sold out all 150 lots in its first such development in Lubbock, Texas, begun 10 months ago, and plans to offer 250 more lots there this fall.
"The sex offender deal has improved demand. It's probably increased our sales three to four times," says I&S partner Clayton Isom, 24. "We're fighting sex offenders head on."
Another Texan, Taylor Goodman, today launched a website, Blockwatcher.com, listing homes for sale that have no registered sex offenders living within a half-mile radius. He says only 20% of available homes will qualify.
"These guys are just everywhere," Goodman says of roughly 567,000 sex offenders registered nationwide. The site carries disclaimers, however, noting that thousands of offenders haven't registered and thousands more have listed phony addresses.
The new private efforts complement an accelerating push by states and cities to bar sex offenders from living near schools or playgrounds. Hundreds of cities, including more than a dozen this year alone, have approved such ordinances, some of which block out entire downtowns.
At least 15 states have enacted such laws, including three (Nebraska, Mississippi and South Dakota) that did so for the first time this year and two (Georgia and Indiana) that expanded prior restrictions. Others, including California and Pennsylvania, restrict offenders on parole or probation. The restrictions have increased despite U.S. data showing sex crimes against children have decreased in the last decade.
"It's grown out of public demand" fueled by media coverage of high-profile cases, says Blake Harrison, analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Nobody wants them (sex offenders) in their backyard."
Several restrictions on where sex offenders can live, including Iowa's statewide law, have been upheld in court.
Banning sex offenders from private property does not violate the Fair Housing Act, but restrictions by states and cities are worrisome, says Brett Shirk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas & Western Missouri.
"Everybody wants a sex offender-free neighborhood, but it is an unfortunate fact, they are going to live somewhere," he says. "What's going to happen is they're going to go underground and create a nightmare for law enforcement."
The restrictions may give a false sense of security, because they do not bar offenders from traveling into a prohibited area, says Carolyn Atwell-Davis of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The private group prefers better tracking of offenders, workplace restrictions and increased penalties for non-registration.
The bans focus on strangers, but parents need to understand that 80% of offenders know their victims, says John La Fond, author of Preventing Sexual Violence: How Society Should Cope With Sex Offenders.
He says as more communities impose restrictions, neighboring ones will pass copycat laws for their own protection.