It seems that some Orlando area sex offenders, unable to find housing elsewhere after being released from prison, wound up living at a trailer park. Said trailer park was near a school bus stop. Local parents, quite reasonably concerned, tried but failed to have the bus stop moved. Apparently, “According to the release conditions placed on sex offenders, they are prohibited from living near schools, churches and day cares, but there is nothing that says can’t live by the bus stop.”
So, said concerned parents hatched a new plan: build a day care center nearby and force them to move. Once their license is approved, the men will have 24 hours to leave.
Now, I think it’s fair to say that I’m anti-sex offender. Indeed, as the parent of a nine-month-old girl, this is one area where I’m likely to become less, rather than more, tolerant as time goes by.
Still, this strikes me as abusive. To prohibit these men from moving to a place next door to a school or day care center is prudent and hardly too much to bear; I’m a little more dubious about churches but whatever. But, surely, even convicted felons shouldn’t be forced from their homes at the whim of builders or vengeful parents? What if they actually owned a house?
Indeed, it seems this move will preclude the men from living anywhere in the county. That makes it rather inconvenient to hold down a job — already a difficult thing for a man with this sort of crime on his record. For that matter, what if the terms of their release require them to remain within the county?
via Radley Balko
