This is pretty outrageous, and it will no doubt be struck down as unconstitutional, which only makes it more offensive that our city council unanimously passed it:
8-0 council vote for 'zoning out' sex offenders
Friday, November 10, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
A Jersey City ordinance is seeking to make the city a perv-free zone.
The "sex offender zone law" unanimously introduced by the City Council on Wednesday would restrict registered sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a park, playground, school, day care center, sports facility, library, theater, convenience store - essentially anywhere in the city.
Patterned after sex offender zone laws that have cropped up around the state, including in Bayonne and East Newark, the ordinance seeks to expand the state's Meagan's Law, which requires sex offenders to register with local authorities.
However, there already are four lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of these laws in the courts. There also are several bills pending in the state Legislature that would establish statewide standards barring sex offenders from living near places where children congregate.
One argument the challenging lawsuits make is that such ordinances are designed to "effectively banish" people from living within a municipality.
In fact, when the sponsor of the Jersey City measure - Ward A Councilman and Little League coach Michael Sottolano - was jokingly told by a colleague that his proposed ordinance would leave just one block in the city where a sex offender could live, Sottolano quipped: "Tell me the block and I'll figure something out."
Asked where he would have sex offenders live, Sottolano said Wednesday: "Frankly I don't care. I'd rather be judged on what I do to protect the elderly and children."
Passed 8-0, with Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski absent, the Jersey City ordinance would grandfather in sex offenders already living in the city. A spokesman for Mayor Jerramiah Healy said yesterday the mayor is in favor of the ordinance.
But in their zeal to do good, Sottolano and others could be putting more kids in danger, said Tom Rosenthal, spokesman for the state's Public Defender, one of the groups challenging the zone laws.
New Jersey maintains a relatively low recidivism rate among its registered sex offenders because law enforcement professionals keep careful track of them, making sure their lives are as stable as possible, Rosenthal said.
"You start pushing these people around, they lose their homes, they may not be able to get to work, they may start turning back to substance abuse, you destabilize them and you put them back in the environment that made them commit the act in the first place," Rosenthal added.
New Jersey's sex offender recidivism rate is 6 percent compared to 13 percent in the nation, Rosenthal said.
Jersey City has roughly 300 registered sex offenders, according to police officials. The Jersey City ordinance will be up for final adoption on Nov. 21.
― A-Ron Hubbard, Monday, 27 November 2006 15:29 (seventeen years ago) link