Concerns about sexual predators have led communities in at least 30 U.S. states to adopt laws limiting where registered sex offenders can live, typically keeping them away from schools, parks or other places where children congregate.
For many years, convicted sexual predators and sex offenders in Florida have been required by law to register, allowing the community in which they reside to know their whereabouts, and this information is made available online.
In Florida, this service is provided by the FDLE, or Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which maintains a database of these convicted felons, making the information available to residents who want to be situationally aware, at http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us
The City of Vernon, Florida, located in Washington County, is currently working to pass ordinances which will forbid sexual predators and sex offenders from living in the city limits of this small rural town in Northwest Florida, just one of many communities working to limit the exposure of children to these convicted felons.
The Town of Wausau, Florida, just a few miles from Vernon, is also starting a process whereby they will consider adopting the same type action, but not everyone is happy about this change in policy.
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) opines that laws which limit residence options for sex offenders and sexual predators actually creates more risk for the community, and is working against such legislation.
The organization argues that banishment zone ordinances actually make the population less safe, as they impede offender rehabilitation and thereby increase the likelihood of repeat offense.
The ACLU maintains that people who transition from prison into society face countless challenges, and most have very limited resources, financial or otherwise. They go on to say that these people who want to lead law-abiding lives after serving a prison sentence need to establish stability in their homes, jobs and families.
These are difficult things to achieve, but add to this the consequences of Megan’s Law and limits to where offenders can live, and few have hope of succeeding, as the fear of the stigma of Megan’s Law can force offenders underground, out of the watchful eye of police and parole officers.
Megan’s Law is the name of the federal law, and informal name for subsequent state laws, in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders, created in response to the murder of Megan Kanka in 1994 in Hamilton Township, New Jersey.
In all fairness, the ACLU does not necessarily defend sexual predation or sexual offenses, and agree that our children should be protected from sex offenders, but question how to accomplish this in an effective and meaningful way.
According to data, there are currently around four sexual offenders currently registered as living in Vernon, and a half-dozen living in Wausau, while Chipley, the county seat of Washington County, has a dozen or so offenders registered with FDLE.
The City of Vernon, along with nearby Wausau, is taking steps to increase the safety of their children with this new proposed regulation.
In Vernon, the ordinance will deny convicted sexual predators or sex offenders the option of residing in the city limits, although any persons currently residing in the City will be ‘grandfathered in’. If the person, however, moves from that current address, they will not be allowed to relocate within the city limits.