June 02, 2005

The ACLU - a Sexual Predator's Best Friend!

President of the Lower Chichester Board of Commissioners Rocco Gaspari Jr. believes sex offenders have the right to settle down and begin a new life, just not near the schools and playgrounds in the township where he lives.

So Gaspari and his fellow commissioners have asked township solicitor Frank Sbandi to draft an ordinance that prohibits sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a school, playground or other places children congregate in Lower Chi.

As could be expected, the ACLU has strong words for such an idea.

"This is great legislation, if we’re trying to create a leper colony," said Larry Frankel, executive director of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACLU.

But a constitutional expert with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said it was "a close call" whether such an ordinance would hold up in court.

The courts will have a lot to decide on this issue. Hamilton, N.J., passed a law that, in effect, bars convicted sex offenders from its town. The same is true of two cities in Florida. Weston will consider a new law this summer, which virtually makes the entire town off-limits to convicted sex offenders. In Pembroke Pines, the law allows certain areas to remain open for sex offenders to live, but the residents of those communities are storming city hall -- they want to be off limits, too.

Towns in New York and Massachusetts are considering their own limits on where sex offenders may live within their communities.

A Megan’s Law Web site, initiated by the Pennsylvania State Police in January, contains details about 6,981 sex offenders in Pennsylvania, including 13 who live or work in the Linwood/Boothwyn area. At http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/, interested Internet searchers can discover an offender’s name and photo, the type of offense committed, the date of conviction, year of birth, current residence and current employer.

But Lower Chi has decided to try to take the information one step further. While no one wants to close the door on giving convicted criminals a chance at rehabilitating their lives, no one wants a pedophile next door to an elementary school, either. It just doesn’t make sense.

Whether the courts agree with Linwood or the other towns trying to keep sexual offenders away from the children in their area, only time will tell. But someone in this state needed to step up with communities in other states to test the limits of the law.

Linwood is taking a chance, a worthwhile chance. They may not succeed, but that hasn’t ever stopped this town from trying out ordinances or procedures some critics said would never fly.

Obivously there are some well educated leaders in Linwood.  More towns and cities should follow their lead.  It has been demonstrated time and time again how infrequent sex offenders are rehabilitated (I would go so far to say that the only "rehabilitated" ones are the ones still in jail, away from victims).  Allow a sex offender next to a school and it is like putting a drug addict in front of a meth lab.  It's irresponsible and dangerous - just like the ACLU.

Update:  It's Stop the ACLU! Blogburst Day.  Please stop by their site and offer your support.