ATLANTA, GA – In April, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law sex offender legislation that was described by its primary sponsor as the “toughest law in the country.” Some of the law’s most restrictive provisions, however, may render it unenforceable and unconstitutional.The law prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a wide variety of places, including day care centers, schools, school bus stops, and churches. While these measures have received a great deal of support from voters and legislators alike, the restrictions may leave registered sex offenders in Georgia with nowhere to live in accordance with the law.
The prohibition regarding school bus stops introduces an enforcement nightmare in and of itself. In Camden County alone, for example, there are over 2,000 school bus stops, according to the Tribune-Georgian. Georgia officials have confirmed that there are over 150,000 school bus stops statewide and over 10,000 registered sex offenders to police.
The law is already being challenged in court and U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper issued a temporary restraining order to block the state from forcing sex offenders to move out of homes in proximity to school bus stops. The order is in effect through a July 11th hearing on the constitutionality of the law.
The lawsuit was brought by attorneys from the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), who argue that the bus stop provision effectively would banish thousands of sex offenders from Georgia, many of whom they say pose little threat to society.
Georgia does not distinguish between violent sex offenders and purely “statutory” offenders under its sex offender laws and registry, as many other states do. The main plaintiff in the SCHR lawsuit is a woman named Wendy Whitaker, whose offense was statutory rape; when she was 17, Whitaker had consensual sex with a 15-year-old boy.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a month after Whitaker purchased a house in Harlem, a small town in northeast Georgia, police notified her that the home was within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop and she was in violation of the law.
Non-compliance with the law can result in up to 10 years in prison.
“I feel punished over and over and over again for something I did as a teenager,” said Whitaker, who has served five years probation already for her conviction.
“It is a fundamental concept of justice: you don’t add punishment to people after the fact,” said Lisa Kung, director of the SCHR. “Here we have many people who got five years probation – that’s punishment – and suddenly, wow, 10 years later, they’re banished from Georgia.”
According to the Times, it has already been confirmed that a significant percentage of Georgia’s sex offenders will need to relocate. In DeKalb County, all 490 registered offenders would have to relocate and in Bibb County, 287 out of the 290 offenders would have to move.
Supporters of the law say the school bus stop provision is a necessary facet of the law and downplay the logistical problems that enforcement of the law would entail.
“Yes, it’s an inconvenience, some folks will have to move,” said House Majority Leader Jerry L. Keen, who sponsored the legislation. “But if you weigh that argument against the overall impact, which is the safety of children, most folks would agree this is a good thing.”
According to the SCHR, approximately 25 offenders on Georgia’s registry are in nursing homes, many are in wheelchairs, and one registered offender is 100 years-old.
