Woman Jailed for Violating Municipal Sex Offender Residency Restriction
The story of an Iowa woman recently jailed for violating a municipal sex offender residency ordinance is gaining some national attention on MSNBC. Having already moved her family out of the town of Atlantic because there was no home that complied with the Iowa Sex Offender Residency Law; she is again forced out on the street (her kids placed in foster care this time around) due to a similar municipal ordinance. As the story indicated, the local government crafted their ordinance to prohibit residency within 2000 feet of bus stops and parks because there were no schools or daycares in the town to prevent a sex offender from establishing residence. The case is a frustrating example of a modern day witch hunt.
The story lacks some significant details that are important to a complete analysis of what happened, including: whether the woman entered the plea with an attorney, the date the ordinance was enacted, and the actual language of the ordinance.
A search of Iowa Online Court Records indicates the woman may have entered an uncounseled plea of guilty to violating the ordinance on February 14th, 2008. An attorney was appointed on March 17th, 2008, (after she had allegedly violated the court's sentencing order). If a jail sentence was possible it is concerning that counsel may not have been made available to the defendant. There is no indication when the law was passed, but the story certainly makes it sound like it was AFTER she moved to Marne. If true it raises questions of Ex Post Facto punishment.
This is a story that needs more attention. If the facts of the case are half as bad as what is being reported, it is a good example of the unwarranted persecution faced by some convicted sex offenders. Sex offender residency restrictions are driven by hatred and fear, not by emperical or scientific data. There are many good posts on the subject of sex offender residency restrictions on the Sentencing Law and Policy Blog of Douglas A. Berman.
