Friday, November 23, 2007
News Sex-offender law molested by high court
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Fri, Nov 23, 2007 at 2:29 PM
While folks were waiting for next year's big federal court battle over the state's harsh new sex-offender law, the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday quietly ruled a big chunk of it -- the residency restrictions -- unconstitutional.
What's surprising about the case is that the plaintiff isn't someone who committed a technical violation of the law and got unfairly lumped in with child molesters, as was the case with federal plaintiff Wendy Whitaker. (See CL's cover story.) No, this plaintiff, one Anthony Mann of Hampton, is a genuine convicted child molester. Yet he managed to convince the court that the state law is so restrictive that it effectively doesn't allow him to buy and occupy a home.
Quoth the ruling:
It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without being continually at risk of being rejected.
Some would say that was the idea when the law was written by state Rep. Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons. But that doesn't make it legal.
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I saw this topic in the news when it was first being debated. It was shaky even then, when people saw that it limited sex offenders to live everywhere else BUT Georgia. I don't condone sexual offense or child molestation in any way, but this little law seemed a bit excessive.
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