A lawsuit was filed yesterday by the well-respected Albany, NY, lawyers Terry Kindlon and Kathy Manley, of Kindlon Shanks & Associates, challenging the sex offender residency restrictions imposed by Albany County — which prohibits Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of schools and child care facilities. The plaintiff, who is seeking to file as an anonymous “John Doe”, is a Level 3 sex offender, who has had one sex offense (against a 14-year-old girl) 22 years ago, and has numerous special health care needs. He was contacted by Albany police and told he had one week to move from his current residence. Click for a combined 36-page pdf file of the Complaint & Affirmation (or Word versions of the Complaint and the Affirmation) in John Doe v. Albany County (Supreme Court for Albany, County, NY, filed Sept. 27, 2007).
update (Sept. 29, 2007): The Schenectady Gazette quotes attorney Kindlon that the Albany County Legislature created an “irrational situation and was not equipped or authorized to create a law like this.” NYCLU’s Melanie Trimble notes the case will “set a local precedent, even though the court is deciding for Albany County,” and adds “We need to protect those individuals who face serious adversity with these residency restrictions.” “Suit challenges sex offender law: Lawyer, NYCLU hoping to set precedent,” B1, Sept. 29, 2007, reprinted)
Here is how Kathy Manley described the facts earlier this week, in an informal email on September 25th:
…
He was living in Albany for 4 1/2 years with no problems when his building was sold and everyone was evicted last May. He’s on parole for 3 more years from his 1985 conviction and his old parole officer found him an apartment, where he’s been since May. But last month the police told him he had to leave by next week. . . . This man has given the police over 30 different addresses to check and they have told him that every one of them is in the excluded zone. They told him to try a couple areas of the city where there is no housing available to him. So he has been trying to do everything right, but has run out of options.
If they put him in a motel he probably won’t have the fridge and telephone he needs for his medical conditions. We tried to work it out with the DA’s Office but I was told today that no exceptions would be made.
Along with f/k/a‘s Editor, Kindlon and Manley had signed the New York Civil Liberties Union’s letter to Schenectady County in August, opposing that County’s tougher restrictions. (See our prior post.) The NYCLU letter stressed that the residency restrictions were unlawful as punitive ex post facto laws, and because the field has been preempted by state law and policy. Terry Kindlon expects to be in Albany County Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 2, seeking a preliminary injuction and Temporary Restraining Order.
autumn wind —
a leaf and homeless man
cross paths……………………….. by Andrew Riutta
eviction notice —
a moth ricochets
in the lampshade
. ……………. by Alice Frampton — The Heron’s Nest (March 2004)
autumn evening —
yellow leaves cover
the plot reserved for me
Stillness of sand
in the hourglass bottom–
the sound of wind
Autumn cold; curtained window
of the fortuneteller
softly glowing
…………………… by Rebecca Lilly
“Autumn evening” — Shadwell Hills; Modern Haiku XXX:2, and A New Resonance 2
“Stillness of sand” – Acorn #18 (2007)
“autumn cold” – Shadwell Hills (Birch Prees Press, 2002)