WARNING: Alabama looking to add "resident camp facilities" to the growing list of restricted zones

It is a little late in the legislative season but both legislative sects have their own versions of this new bill-- HB654, HB680, and SB489. Why the House has two versions of the bill is beyond me, other than noting HB 654 lacks the sentence defining "resident camp facilities" and the word "knowingly" in the sentence stating whoever violates this law is guilty of a class C felony.

No matter the case, these laws are bad news. The definition is very confusing. Are they referring to treatment programs or summer camp?

There is no time to waste. Call your legislators today and stop these bad bills.

Synopsis: Under existing law, an adult sex offender may not establish or maintain a residence or other living accommodation within 2,000 feet of property on which a school or childcare facility is located.

This bill would prohibit an adult sex offender from establishing or maintaining a residence or other living accommodation within 2,000 feet of a resident camp facility for minors.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. Section 15-20A-11, Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows:
§15-20A-11.

"(a) No adult sex offender shall establish a residence, maintain a residence after release or conviction, or establish any other living accommodation within 2,000 feet of the property on which any school, or childcare facility, or resident camp facility is located unless otherwise exempted pursuant to Sections 15-20A-23 and 15-20A-24. For the purposes of this section, a resident camp facility includes any place, area, parcel, or tract of land which contains permanent or semi-permanent facilities for sleeping owned by a business, church, or nonprofit organization used primarily for the educational, recreational, or religious purposes for minors and the location of the resident camp has been provided to local law enforcement. Resident camp does not include a private residence, farm, hunting, or fishing camp.

"(h) Any person who knowingly violates this section shall be guilty of a Class C felony."

Vann Thomas Motel in Anniston closed, registered citizens forced out

When a stable home for Registered persons closed, why are people surprised that the result is homelessness? Are people really so stupid to believe that residency laws don't negatively impact their precious registry? No home means no monitoring. I'm sure that "building code" crap was a convenient excuse for shutting down the hotel. 

http://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/article_06c72322-ad9a-11e4-8176-2b97648b395c.html

Vann Thomas Motel closed, registered sex offenders forced out

Posted: Thursday, February 5, 2015 6:48 pm | Updated: 8:41 pm, Thu Feb 5, 2015.

by Eddie Burkhalter

The state Fire Marshal's Office has forced the closure of the Vann Thomas Motel in Anniston, according to the owner’s son.

That means the registered sex offenders who had lived there are now scattered across the area, said Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson.

Amerson said as of Thursday afternoon 11 registered sex offenders who had lived at the motel, located at 3002 McClellan Blvd., had reported to the Sheriff's Office that they would have to move. Registered sex offenders are required by law to report when they relocate.

“The issue for us is, they don’t have a place to go, and so we’re going to have a group who are essential homeless at least for a short term,” Amerson said.

Asked what the offenders will be required to do by law after leaving the motel, Amerson said the law allows for them to be homeless, but they must check in each week and report where they are living, whether that be under a bridge or elsewhere, he said.

Bill Wilkens Jr., standing outside his father’s motel Thursday, said an inspector from the state Fire Marshal's Office came to the motel Jan. 29 and informed him the business would have three days to close.

“The building wasn’t up to code,” Wilkens said was the reason the state inspector gave him for the closure. Wilkens said it was an old building, adding, “Of course it’s not going to be up to code.”

Attempts to reach the state Fire Marshal’s Office Thursday were unsuccessful.

Wilkens said 26 people who were staying at the hotel had to leave. Most had done so by Thursday, but one couple loaded garbage bags of belongings into a Ford truck as Wilkens talked to a reporter outside the motel. Most had already left, he said.

A sheriff’s deputy who is responsible for helping keep track of the county’s registered sex offenders came to the motel Thursday to ask Wilkens where the offenders who had lived there had moved, and Wilkens said he told the deputy “I don’t know.”

“The police department used to bring people up here, because they’d know where they are,” Wilkens said. “We’ve got some good managers here and they know who’s who and what they’ve done. They’ll report a problem.”

“This isn’t the Hilton,” Wilkens said. “But it serves a need. Now you’ve got people that are homeless. Have no place to go. One guy told me he was going to be living in his truck."

Decatur Police and state Attorney General are claiming foster homes are the same as daycares

If what is in this media account is true, then the floodgates open up to declare every family with children a "daycare," thus exploiting a loophole in the law to banish all former offenders from the state by declaring families "day care centers." This is abuse of power at its finest.

CONTACT INFO

Decatur Police

Chief of Police:
Ed Taylor
Department Phone No:
(256) 341-4600
Department Fax No:
(256) 341-4605



Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange
Mailing Address:
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 300152
Montgomery, AL 36130-0152

Physical Address:
Office of the Attorney General
501 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104

Office Main Number: 334-242-7300
Consumer Protection Section:  1-800-392-5658
Office of Victim Assistance: 1-800-626-7676

http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/foster-homes-are-now-protected-from-sex-offenders-living-near/article_34a09132-d931-11e2-80d2-0019bb30f31a.html?_dc=963225002866.2384

Foster homes are now protected from sex offenders living near-by
Posted on June 19, 2013
 by Rachel Keith

DECATUR, Ala. (WAAY)-The Decatur Police Department is wanting foster families to know that they are now protected in the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act.

The Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act of 2011 prevents more than 11,000 sex offenders in the state from living within 2,000 feet of a school or child care facility. The Decatur Police Department says that now includes foster homes.

"We've received notification of a recent Attorney General opinion which stated the section of the sex offender notification and registration act covering child care facilities also includes foster homes" said Lt. John Crouch with the Decatur Police Department.

Decatur Police are encouraging foster families to list their addresses with their local law enforcement agency.

"Then they can be included in the restricted areas where sex offenders are not allowed to live" said Crouch.

Foster parents like Gabe and Melissa Ross were happy to hear that option is now available to them.
"We have six children in our home and we try to do as much as we can but I feel like this law will really help and add to the security of our home" says Melissa Ross.

"Anything we can do to help protect these children is a great thing because they grow up with such difficult backgrounds, a tough foundation" said Gabe Ross. "Anything we can do to help protect them, provide safety for them."

One foster family has already added their address to the list with the Decatur Police Department and the Ross family says they could be next.

"We would consider putting our name on the list to help protect our children" said Melissa Ross.

Mike Jones trying to prevent halfway house in Andalusia

Another Alabama State Rep exploiting public fear for a re-election bid wants to stop a halfway house for registrants. Contact him and show him why preventing halfways houses for registrants is a bad idea.

http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Sex-Offender-Half-Way-House-Rep-Mike-Jones-171848531.html


Sex Offender Half-Way House Rep. Mike Jones

One Alabama lawmaker says ... He hears the concerns of Covington County residents regarding a possible halfway house for sex offenders ... Loud and clear.
Representative Mike Jones of Andalusia says he plans to co-sponsor a bill ... To keep convicted sex offender Carlton Bender ... From building such a facility.
It would be located in the natural bridge community near the Covington Walton county line.

Rep. Jones's contact info:

REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JONES (R)   92nd District (Covington and Escambia)

---

State House:	Room 427-E 11 S. Union Street Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7739	Home Address: Work Address:	486 Sutton Road Andalusia, AL. 36420 P.O. Box 957 Andalusia, AL. 36420
Home Phone: Work Phone: Cell Phone: Fax Number:	(334) 222-4367 (334) 222-0111 (334) 804-8240 (334) 427-1671	Email:	mljatty@andycable.com

Proposed law would tighten registration, work requirements

Great, just when I thought it would be a quiet year in AL, this crap happens: legislature to increase work restrictions from 1000 to 2000 ft and increase registration 6 months to 3 has been introduced. Blaine Galliher is the sponsor:

State House:	Room 519-C 11 S. Union Street Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7674	District:	Post Office Box 4353 Gadsden, AL 35904-4353
Home Phone:	(256) 442-7517

Email: blaine2@mindspring.com

Be sure to focus on the Judicial committee as well. ReFORM Alabama opposes this bill in every aspect excet the "Romeo and Juliet" provision. The intent is bring Alabama more in tune with the controversial Adam Walsh Act.

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20110422/NEWS/110429914/-1/OPINION01?Title=Proposed-law-would-tighten-sex-offender-requirements&tc=ar

Proposed law would tighten sex offender requirements

By Lisa Rogers
Times Staff Writer

Published: Friday, April 22, 2011 at 9:27 p.m. 

Alabama already has some of the toughest laws in the United States for convicted sex offenders, but Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Rainbow City, has introduced legislation to make them even tighter.

The bill is out of committee in the House and Senate and could come up for a vote during this session.
“It brings the state into compliance with federal laws and strengthens the current law and closes some loopholes,” Galliher said.

Current sex offender laws are addressed in three or four sections of the state law's code books, but this bill places it all in one section.

“It makes it easier to read and comprehend,” Galliher said.

The law would prohibit an adult sex offender from living within 2,000 feet of the victim, rather than 1,000 feet, Galliher said.

It also adds a restriction prohibiting a sex offender from working within 2,000 feet of a school or child care facility.

It requires juveniles who commit violent offenses to follow the same guidelines as adult sex offenders and prohibits the youthful offender laws from being a factor in those cases.

Sex offenders also would be required to verify registration every three months instead of six months.
Anyone who is homeless now will be required to check in with law enforcement every week.

The new law also makes it a requirement for all convicted sex offenders, regardless of when the offense or conviction occurred, to register for the rest of their lives.

It will require sex offenders to provide more information to law enforcement and the sex offender public registry website, such as their employers, license plate numbers, vehicle information, telephone numbers, Internet identifiers and email addresses. The public registry website also will require a criminal history of all sex-related crimes.

The sex offender now must register within three days of changing or updating any information or within three days of entering a county to live, work or attend school.

There is a substantial revision for the process that determines if someone is a considered to be a sexual predator. It no longer will be based on mental issues, but on the person's prior record.

The law also prohibits sex offenders from contacting or harassing their victims.

One of the loopholes the bill addresses is requiring all sex offenders to sign a form each time they register, stating they understand their responsibility.

There also is a new provision addressing consensual sex.

If there is no more than four years' difference in the ages of the juvenile offender and victim and the sexual contact is consensual, it is at a judge's discretion to determine if the offender must register as a sex offender.

Sheriff Todd Entrekin said the tougher law is going to create more work for the sheriff's office, but that is a problem he doesn't mind.

“It will push more of the sex offenders out into the county, because the 2,000-feet requirement will make it more difficult for there to be places that sex offenders can live in the cities,” he said. “But it's worth it. Anything we can do to keep up with these sex offenders, we're going to do our part.”

Copyright © 2011 GadsdenTimes.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Empty Building Reflects Empty Hearts: NIMBYism and the closing of Shady Court

 Shady Court sits empty now, a sad reminder of the emptiness of the hearts of many who judged its residents solely on label rather than character. Shady Court was home to a dozen registered sex offenders barely a year ago. Thanks in large part to residency restrictions and intolerance of sexual offenders, those who carry the stigma of “sex offender” are left with few housing options upon release from prison or after sentencing. Sex offenses can range from rape and sodomy to offenses to urinating behind a bush or even consensual relations between teenagers; in Alabama, all register for life. With the closing of Shady Court, there are even fewer housing options.

I moved to Sheffield a year ago to be closer to my fiancée (I never liked living here before but I was willing to prove my love to my fiancée). Like many of the former residents at Shady Court, I am on the Public Sex Offender Registry. I am also a nationally known advocate for the rights of former offenders, working with groups like www.sosen.org in addition to running my own advocate site www.oncefallen.com. I even received a partial pardon in 2007 as recognition of my rehabilitation.  My first order of business in Alabama was establishing a working relationship with John Starnes, owner of Shady Court.

My fiancée and I spoke with Mr. Starnes and his fiancée in September 2009. I wanted to work with Starnes because we both believe in rehabilitation. Starnes was holding meetings for sexual addiction, and cooperated with law enforcement to keep any potential troublemakers in check. We held similar goals of running halfway houses to help ex-offenders reintegrate successfully into society. Starnes had taken the vision one step further—he located a potential site for his halfway house, a quaint and isolated ranch outside the city limits, far from the complaining residents that surrounded Shady Court. Starnes was optimistic and working hard to bring his vision into reality.

By the time I had made my move to Alabama in October, everything had changed. Not long after my initial meeting with Starnes, backlash from the August 16, 2009 Times Daily article[i] shattered that optimism. Starnes and his fiancée began receiving late night telephone death threats.  The city of Sheffield’s building inspectors were under pressure to shut down the dilapidated hotel. Someone even drove around the hotel in the dead of night, noting the layout of the place while discussing bombs, and subsequently posted the “findings” on Youtube[ii]. Churches denied assistance to anyone working or living at Shady Court. Despite working with Law enforcement in the past, the police did nothing to help. No one wanted to rent from a hotel flagged as a sex offender ghetto, and eventually Shady Court closed its doors. Most of the registrants simply moved to another part of town.

By the time I ran into Starnes a few months later, the dream had died. He moved to a new location and is selling the property. I understand his frustrations. I was targeted by my fiancée’s neighbors. A local crime blogger posted a picture of my ex-wife and with the suggestion to “tattoo” my forehead. The Times Daily forums filled with personal attacks, even individuals mocking my mother’s passing. My fiancée couldn’t handle the stress and walked away. The residents claim victory on both counts. They could not be further from the truth.

In 2003, the Colorado Department of Corrections published a study[iii] which found no correlation between residency restrictions and sex crimes. Furthermore, they found “Shared Living Arrangements,” much like the arrangement at Shady Court, actually decreased recidivism among high risk offenders. On the flip side, studies found instability in life, such as denial of housing and employment, increases recidivism[iv]. What does that mean? It means Sheffield residents destroyed something beneficial to society in the name of “NIMBYism” and possibly made their streets a little less safe. Sheffield is not alone; in June 2009, Huntsville shut down the Myrick Hotel[v], and in April 2010, Jefferson County passed an anti-clustering law specifically to target a halfway house run by Shiloni Ministries[vi].

Everything you have come to believe about sex offenders is a lie. Sex crimes have more to do with relationships rather than geography[vii]. Most sex crimes are committed by someone the person knows[viii], and most sex crime arrests are of first-time offenders[ix]. Sex offenders have the lowest rate of recidivism, which can be lowered even further with treatment, rehabilitation, and support options which include stable housing and employment[x]. Very few sex offenders are “pedophiles[xi].” High-profile kidnappings are extremely tragic but thankfully extremely rare (less than 115 in a nation with over 71 million children[xii]). Every myth about sex offenders we hold fast to fuels our thirst for vengeance. The current revenge-oriented system of justice has failed to prevent sex crimes because our approach counters the only effective methods of reducing sex crimes in our country.

Shady Court was a lowly program doing the work no one was willing or able to do. We chose revenge over reason. We cried out, “Not In My Back Yard!” The issue has gone nowhere. Despite the complaints and protests of Sheffield residents[xiii], sex offenders will continue to live in Sheffield. I still live here. Life goes on.

Soon I will leave an empty apartment to return to Cincinnati, my dreams of marriage as empty as the crumbling hotel and the dreams of a program that would have made a difference. It is quite possible another sex offender will take my place. If I meet one looking for a place to live, I will highly recommend it.

---

[i] http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090816/ARTICLES/908165040/-1/LIVING05?Title=Motel-garners-cluster-of-sex-offenders

[ii] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWItx3lP8fc

[iii] http://dcj.state.co.us/odvsom/sex_offender/SO_Pdfs/FullSLAFinal.pdf

[iv] http://www.oncefallen.com/ResidenceRestrictionsFacts.html

[v] http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-myric-motel-closure-notice,0,5059254.story

[vi] http://reformalabama.blogspot.com/search/label/Anti-Clustering%20Law

[vii] http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/issues/SexOffender_attachments/$FILE/MN_Residence.pdf

[viii] http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/facts.htm

[ix] Jeffrey C. Sandler, Naomi J. Freeman, and Kelly M. Socia, “Does a Watched Pot Boil? A Time-Series Analysis of New York State’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law.” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol. 14, No. 4, Nov. 2008, P. 297

[x] http://www.oncefallen.com/SOMyths.html

[xi] http://mhamic.org/sources/okami&goldberg.htm

[xii] http://hawaii.gov/ag/mcch/main/faqs/files/nismart2_overview.pdf

[xiii] http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20100425/articles/4255035

Court to decide if RSOs must have a home [to be free]

I am hoping the courts uphold the ruling striking down the practice of re-incarcerating sex offenders for not being able to obtain housing before their release dates. I am passionate about this one because I was five days away from being charged with "Failure to Register." If it was not for a church in Cincinnati, who knows when I would have found a place to live. I am hoping to have a letter from an Alabama inmate who was sent back to prison for being homeless soon.

[http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100828/APN/1008281024]

Court to decide if sex offenders must have a home

By BOB JOHNSON Associated Press Writer

Published: Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 9:14 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 9:14 a.m.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is deciding four cases that will determine if convicted sex offenders must provide a permanent address when they are released from prison.

Montgomery County Judges Truman Hobbs and Tracey McCooey ruled last year in separate cases that a law requiring inmates convicted of sex offenses to have a permanent address before they are released from prison is vague and unconstitutional.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King has appealed and asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate the law. King says the statute is necessary for law enforcement officers to keep an eye on people convicted of sex crimes like rape.

All briefs have been filed and arguments made in the four cases. Attorneys say the court could rule at any time.

This article is a longer version of the same story, courtesy of the Anniston Star:

[http://annistonstar.com/view/full_story/9311105/article-Alabama-court-to-decide-if-sex-offenders-must-have-a-home?instance=news_lead]

Alabama court to decide if sex offenders must have a home

by Bob Johnson
Associated Press Writer

August 28, 2010

MONTGOMERY — After serving his prison sentence for rape, Jeffrey Seagle tried to find a place to live. But with no fixed address and no family or friends able to take him in, Alabama's sex offender law kept him behind bars.

When it came time for him to leave the Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery, he was re-arrested. The reason: He couldn't give officials an address where he would be living.

"This is essentially an eternal prison sentence. It could be a life sentence," said attorney David Schoen, who represents Seagle and three others in similar situations. "It is the ultimate scarlet letter."

Challenged by Schoen, the law was later declared unconstitutional by two Montgomery circuit judges, but the state attorney general has appealed to have it reinstated. State's attorneys say the four inmates could have complied with the law by listing a park bench or even a street corner as their permanent address.

Montgomery County Circuit Judges Truman Hobbs and Tracey McCooey ruled last year in separate cases that the law is unconstitutionally vague. The ruling struck down charges that the four inmates violated the law when they declared that they were homeless and did not provide an address for where they would be living outside prison.

Seagle and the other three inmates were arrested for violating the notification law when they started to leave prison at the end of their sentences. They have since been released after the law was ruled unconstitutional.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King has asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate the law, which he said is necessary for law enforcement officers to keep an eye on people convicted of sex crimes like rape. The four men — Phillip Handley, Thornal Adams, Richard Coppage and Seagle — argued in court briefs that they were unable to find a homeless shelter, halfway house or other permanent home.

Under Alabama law, convicted sex offenders are not permitted to live within 2,000 feet of an elementary or high school or college or university.

Although they are now out of prison, Schoen said his four clients are still having a hard time finding a place to live. He said they have stayed in homeless shelters and other temporary locations.

Many states that adopted stringent community notification rules for sex offenders are now grappling with the issue of how homeless sex offenders can comply.

Last year, probation officers in Georgia had to find temporary housing for nine homeless sex offenders who were kicked out of a makeshift tent city they had built in the woods behind a suburban Atlanta office building. The men said the tent city was the only place they had been able to find where they could live and comply with state law.

In a similar case, almost 100 homeless sex offenders in Florida were forced to move earlier this year from a makeshift camp under a bridge on a Miami causeway.

Mississippi has a law similar to Alabama's, but it gives sex offenders 10 days to find a permanent residence after they are released from prison. In California, sex offenders are allowed to register as "transient" if they can't find housing.

Schoen has argued that the Alabama law violates the Constitution because it requires a convicted sex offender, who has "paid his debt to society," to have a roof over his head.

But the attorney general's office has argued in court briefs that the law does not require a specific address and that inmates can say they are going to live on a park bench or under an interstate overpass, as long as they remain the required distance from schools and police know where to find them.

"You can say 'I'm going to live under the overpass on Ann Street," King said, referring to a Montgomery street not far from the Capitol.

Virginia law allows homeless sex offenders to list a street corner, parking lot or other vacant space as their home.

Deputy Attorney General Pete Smyczek denies claims that the Alabama law is an attempt to give homeless sex offenders life sentences.

"We just want them to give us something definitive enough to allow law enforcement to locate them," Smyczek said.

The law passed the Alabama Legislature in a special session in 2005. The House sponsor, former state Rep. Neil Morrison, D-Cullman, said King and some legislators were concerned that "predators were disappearing back into society" as soon as they were released from prison before law enforcement officers could find out where they were living.

"I felt strongly about this. We owe protection to our children," Morrison said.

Schoen said he believes the Legislature intended to require sex offenders to stay in prison if they lack a permanent address and that the argument about living on park benches is being made to improve chances of winning before the appellate court.

But Morrison said that's not the case.

"Nowhere did we say in the law that they have to stay in prison. The intent was to protect children," Morrison said.

In court filings, attorneys for the sex offenders say their clients went to great lengths to abide by the law.

Seagle, who was initially convicted of rape in Montgomery County in 1995, had been in prison for 14 years when he was told he would have to provide an address before he was released from prison and at that time didn't have any relatives or friends he could live with, according to his filing to the appellate court. The filing said Seagle wrote to a number of halfway houses and was only accepted to live in one in Oklahoma City.

But that halfway house later informed him it was full and he could not live there. The filing said Seagle did not have money to rent a house or an apartment and he did not have access to the Internet in prison to help his search. It said Seagle "did not think he could put down that he would be living on a park bench and that if he did, he would probably get arrested again."

11th US Ct of Appeals sends sex offender suit back to court

This is the longer and more detailed version of yesterday's headline.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/08/federal_appeals_court_reverses.html

Federal appeals court reverses ruling on sex offenders' lawsuit

Published: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 8:30 AM

KENT FAULK, BIRMINGHAM NEWS

A federal appeals court has reversed a U.S. District Court judge's decision to throw out a lawsuit filed by four sex offenders who say Jefferson County's sheriff should not be allowed to hold them after serving their sentences just because they are poor and don't have a place to

call home.

Alabama's Community Notification Act requires that before convicted sex offenders can be freed at the end of their sentences, they must provide an address where they will live after their release. The residence must meet certain requirements, including not being within a certain distance of a school.

If an inmate completes a sentence but can not provide an approved address, he or she can be held by the local sheriff in jail indefinitely, according to the state law.

U.S. District Court Judge Scott Coogler in February 2009 threw out the four sex offenders' lawsuit.

The four men appealed the judge's decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week two of the three judges on the appeals panel issued an order reversing the judge's decision.

"The district court failed to appreciate that this claim, if successful, would not affect the validity of their conviction nor the resulting sentence imposed, and would not necessarily result in immediate release," according to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.

One of the three judges had agreed that the judge had made the right decision in dismissing the case.

The lawsuit now goes back to Coogler, unless Hale or the State of Alabama seeks a rehearing before the appeals court.

"All this does really is let us proceed with this case," said Kira Fonteneau, attorney representing the sex offenders. "It's a great first step ... It (the appeals ruling) doesn't determine anything as to what is going to happen with the case."

Sheriff's officials said they will not appeal the ruling and will continue to fight the case in the lower court.

They feel strongly about it, Sheriff Mike Hale said, because victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse have a very difficult time putting their lives back together, if ever, especially victims who are children.

"The argument that these offenders have paid their debt carries little weight with us," Hale said. "The laws involving sex offenders were created with one thing in mind and that is to protect others from becoming victims."

"We strongly believe they are trying to create a loophole in that law by claiming to be indigent so they may go about in society unmonitored," Hale said. "We will fight that vigorously and look forward to the case being considered by the lower courts."

Closing a loophole

The sheriff said he will ask the state legislators to strengthen the law closing any such loophole possibility.

"We agree with the state of Alabama that they must provide a legitimate address before being released back into our society," he said.

Chief Deputy Randy Christian said investigators would have little success doing that if a sex offender was released without authorities having the ability to warn the public about who they are, what they look like and where they intend to live.

"Our job is to be advocates for crime victims and protect potential victims. Not only is that the right thing to do, but Sheriff Hale demands it," Christian said.

The four men -- Sidney Gipson, William McGuirk, Timothy Guthery and James Sasser -- had sued in 2008. Their lawsuit asks that a procedure be put in place to determine if they are indigent. If they are deemed indigent, provisions would be made for them to comply with the law without being indefinitely held in jail.

Lack of a process

If the state is going to require people to get housing then there ought to be some process for people who can't afford to get housing, Fonteneau said. "The law does not provide a process for law enforcement or the individual to deal with it ... There's just nothing there," she said.

Gipson and McGuirk remain in the Jefferson County Jail, while Guthery and Sasser have been released.

Fonteneau said she doesn't know exactly how many inmates in the Jefferson County jail are in the same position as the four men who filed the lawsuit.

Christian said Wednesday there were six inmates in the county jail who have provided addresses, but they aren't compliant with the law, so they haven't been released. Either the addresses don't exist or they fail to meet with guidelines, for example, being too close to a school, he said. One inmate continues to be held because he hasn't provided any address at all, he said.

E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com

Lawsuit against keeping RSOs past EOS date reinstated

The practice of arresting someone for "Failure To Register" in Alabama simply because a registrant lacks the ability to find a home after his/ her End Of Sentence date is draconian and should be abolished!

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100812/APN/1008121106

Ala. sex offenders' lawsuit reinstated

The Associated Press

Published: Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 1:16 p.m.

A federal appeals court has reversed a U.S. District Court judge's decision and reinstated a lawsuit filed by four sex offenders.

The sex offenders say Jefferson County's sheriff should not be allowed to keep them in jail after they finish their sentences just because they don't have a place to call home. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to a lowe court for reconsideration.

Alabama's Community Notification Act requires that before convicted sex offenders can be freed, they must provide an address where they will live after their release.
If an inmate completes a sentence but can not provide an approved address, he or she can be kept in jail.
The lawsuit now goes back to U.S. District Court Judge Scott Coogler.