Original Article04/22/2012
By Ishton W. Morton
According to a report in the Dayton Daily News more than eight in every 10 of the 139 adult registered sex offenders in Greene County live within a mile of a school or day care.
Predicated on court rulings and loopholes in Ohio’s sex offender law many of Ohio's sex-offenders are now able to legally live near schools or day care facilities.
Several of those living within 1,000 feet of such facilities do so legally because they committed an offense before a law change or because they owned their house before committing a sex crime.
The recent the Ohio Supreme Court ruling which rendered multiple parts of the statute to be unconstitutional has hampered or in many cases prevented enforcement from enforcing the law.
The Ohio’s sex offender law passage which came about back in 2008 to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Act may be on life support.
According to Justice Paul E. Pfeifer who wrote the majority opinion for the court and cited a growing national consensus in other states against imposing automatic lifetime registration requirements against juvenile sex offenders.
Pfeifer continued to say; “the legal analyses of cruel and unusual punishment often examine whether the punishment is disproportionate to the crime and not whether a particular punishment is barbaric.”
However, in a 5 to 2 opinion, the court said; “The punishment violates the Ohio and United States constitutions because it is cruel and unusual, and because it violates a defendant’s right to due process. Juvenile courts could still impose registration requirements in light of the ruling, but not under provisions of the 2008 law.”
Well, if it's on life support, then I say we pull the plug!!!
ReplyDeleteThe requirement to register, in an of itself, violates a defendant's right to due process. Being required to register today, is undeniably punishment, when cosidering the substantial destruction of life it will invariably result in for an offender and his/her family.
ReplyDeleteThis ADDITIONAL punishment is a result of being required to comply with State and Federal law, in addition to any criminal sanctions already satisfied. Therefore, it is only reasonable, that each and every person who is required to register be afforded the opportunity to challenge such a requirement in a court of law.
Have our lawmakers legislated away our constitutional right to due process?
Looks like the answer to that today is, absolutely, YES!
Please please...
DeleteSet up a petition to petition the registration law.