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Here's a link to some information about the new Georgia sex offender law that will take effect on July 1. There is some controversy and a lawsuit coming up already about banning sex offenders from living close to school bus stops.
It is a tough law but some people made comments that it will be hard to enforce and may make the offenders stop registering and reporting to their probation officers.
What do you think about it?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SEX_OFFENDERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
While many states and municipalities bar sex offenders from living near schools, Georgia's law, which takes effect July 1, prohibits them from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather - schools, churches, parks, gyms, swimming pools or one of the state's 150,000 school bus stops.
That puts virtually every residential neighborhood off limits to Georgia's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders.
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With the law about to take effect, a debate is under way over how tough is too tough.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Collins and others this week in federal court by the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights argues that the law makes it impossible for offenders to live in most of the state's urban and suburban areas. It predicted that many will have to live out of their cars or set up tents or trailers in the woods. The center also warned that the law will undermine efforts to keep track of offenders.
"The reality is that the restrictions are so tough that they are going to backfire by causing people not to report and re-register with their probation officers," said Sara Totonchi, the center's public policy director. "As a result, the number of people who will abscond from the registry will increase. And we won't be able to supervise them."
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Under the Georgia law, those deemed sexually dangerous predators also would have to wear electronic monitoring devices for the rest of their lives after their release from prison. The law also increases prison sentences for rape, child molestation and other charges from 10 years to a mandatory minimum of 25 years and makes it a crime to harbor a sex offender.
While at least 15 states also restrict how close sex offenders can live to schools or day-care centers, Georgia is the only state to explicitly bar them from living near school bus stops, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
It is a tough law but some people made comments that it will be hard to enforce and may make the offenders stop registering and reporting to their probation officers.
What do you think about it?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SEX_OFFENDERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
While many states and municipalities bar sex offenders from living near schools, Georgia's law, which takes effect July 1, prohibits them from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather - schools, churches, parks, gyms, swimming pools or one of the state's 150,000 school bus stops.
That puts virtually every residential neighborhood off limits to Georgia's more than 10,000 registered sex offenders.
-------------------------------
With the law about to take effect, a debate is under way over how tough is too tough.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Collins and others this week in federal court by the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights argues that the law makes it impossible for offenders to live in most of the state's urban and suburban areas. It predicted that many will have to live out of their cars or set up tents or trailers in the woods. The center also warned that the law will undermine efforts to keep track of offenders.
"The reality is that the restrictions are so tough that they are going to backfire by causing people not to report and re-register with their probation officers," said Sara Totonchi, the center's public policy director. "As a result, the number of people who will abscond from the registry will increase. And we won't be able to supervise them."
-------------------------
Under the Georgia law, those deemed sexually dangerous predators also would have to wear electronic monitoring devices for the rest of their lives after their release from prison. The law also increases prison sentences for rape, child molestation and other charges from 10 years to a mandatory minimum of 25 years and makes it a crime to harbor a sex offender.
While at least 15 states also restrict how close sex offenders can live to schools or day-care centers, Georgia is the only state to explicitly bar them from living near school bus stops, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.