Facing the justice system.
LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – A draft of a prospective ordinance that would impose residency restrictions on convicted sex offenders, first discussed by the township Board of Commissioners last August, is expected to be unveiled to the public later this month (January 2009).
Board members and their solicitor, R. Kurtz Holloway, have held several discussions about the law that is apparently intended to limit where identified offenders can live within the township’s 8 square miles. None of the proposed law’s specifics have been made publicly available, but commissioners’ Vice President Jonathan Spadt said during the board’s Dec. 18 (2008) meeting that he expected the ordinance would be ready before January’s end.
Board members declared their interest in such a law during their Aug. 21, 2008, meeting, after a representative of Oak Drive residents expressed concerns about what the board’s official minutes describe as “a sexual predator who was residing in their neighborhood.”
Pennsylvania’s “Megan’s Law” requires the State Police to maintain a registry of anyone who lives, works or attends school in the state and has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to certain child or youth sex offenses. The law, which took effect in 1996, is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered by a known offender.
The state registry is available online. It showed 56 identified offenders living in Pottstown’s 19464 zip code as of Thursday (Jan. 1, 2009) and, of those, five who live in Lower Pottsgrove Township. The federal government operates a similar database; as of Thursday it showed 71 offenders living in the zip code but did not specifically identify those with township addresses.
Municipalities across the country have enacted laws like that being considered for Lower Pottsgrove, with varying restrictions.
In October (2008), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania for enacting an offender residency law it claimed was overly broad. Allegheny County’s law prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of schools, daycare centers, parks, playgrounds and other places where children congregate.
Witold Walczak, ACLU legal director in Pennsylvania, claims that “sex-offender residency laws are political placebos that offer the public a false sense of safety, while in reality they interfere with Megan’s Laws and undermine more effective individualized efforts to prevent future crimes,” according to a United Press International report.
Related (from the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Dec. 18 meeting):
- Sanatoga Bridge Closing This Spring
- Economic Woes Hit Sewer Authority Wallet
- Township Boards’ 2009 Schedules Announced
- Township Budget Passed, Library Funding’s Back
- Budget Resolutions In The Spotlight
Photo from Clipart.com
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January 2, 2009 at 2:21 pm
http://www.oncefallen.com/ResidenceRestrictionsFacts.html
These laws don’t work. Iowa found out the hard way that these laws had unintended consequences such as homelessness and people failing to register, and all the while they didn’t make a dent in sex crime rates following the passage of the law. Now Iowa wants to repeal these laws, and the budget crisis gives them the chance to repeal it. Why would anyone want to repeat mistakes other than pandering to the public?
January 4, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I believe that all laws like this are forged by politicians wanting to look good. They know the laws do nothing, but they think it will gain votes. This little township will be bankrupted by the court cases this law creates.
If restrictions for the truly dangerous are deemed necessary, start with DWI, drug dealers, meth labs and the like. See how quick these laws are fought by your neighbors!
January 11, 2009 at 12:37 am
Again we see that the hysteria is working, some ‘ do gooders’ that are to ignorant to see that they themselves are distroying the constitutional fiber in this country I wonder what we might find in their closets?
But the law will pass anyways sex offenders are a great source of money for the state and local government it gets votes even if it cost many lives I don’t believe everyone is guilty of these alleged crimes if your poor your guilty if your rich your special!!!