GA- Ga. sex offender law faces new challenge

6-28-2008 Georgia:

ATLANTA --Georgia's tough sex offender laws turned Cedric Bradshaw into something of a nomad.

Twice he moved in with relatives in Statesboro, and twice he was forced to leave because he was violating Georgia's tough sex offender law by living too close to spots where children gather.

After the 25-year-old was arrested for failing to register as an offender - his second time doing so - he was sentenced with the only punishment allowed by the law: Life in prison.

Bradshaw's lawyers will ask Georgia's top court on Monday to reduce his punishment in what is the latest test for the state's oft-challenged sex offender laws. While others have targeted the law's residency restrictions, Bradshaw's challenge takes aim at the criminal penalties as "cruel and unusual punishment."

"It's not like this guy is out chasing children, yet the law required him to receive a life sentence," said Robert Persse, a public defender who is Bradshaw's attorney. "And we believe that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because the penalty is totally disproportionate to the crime."

Prosecutors contend they were following the letter of the law.

"That's the law. That's what they passed, and we're prosecutors," said Scott Brannen, an assistant district attorney in Statesboro. "That's what was passed by the General Assembly and that's what was in effect. We follow the law as it was passed."

Lately, that's been somewhat of a challenge.

The measure was declared one of the toughest in the nation when it was adopted in 2006, banning sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather. That includes schools, churches, parks, gyms, swimming pools or one of the state's 150,000 school bus stops.

It also increased the maximum sentence for a second failure to register from a maximum of three years in prison to a mandatory life sentence. The change applies to all sex offenders, from child predators to those convicted of statutory rape.

Since it was passed, though, it has been tangled up in a series of court challenges. A lawsuit targeting the school bus stop portion of the measure is still pending, as is a separate challenge targeting a provision that could evict offenders who live near churches or volunteer at them.

And legislators were forced to retool the law this year to allow sex offenders who own their homes to stay there if a center where children gather later opens up nearby after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the measure failed to protect the property rights of offenders.

This latest challenge questions the legitimacy of the law's sentencing guidelines, which Persse said is the nation's toughest.

"Georgia is the only state in all the American jurisdictions that imposes life as a possible penalty for not complying with sex offender registry rules," he said.

Bradshaw was 19 when he was sentenced to five years in prison on statutory rape charges in December 2001. After he was released on parole in 2006, he was slapped with 10 years of probation for failing to register his address with the state's sex offender registry.

When he was released in August 2007, he struggled for weeks to find a place to live.

First, he tried registering at his sister's address in Statesboro before being told to leave because the house was within 1,000 feet of a children's center. He also tried registering at his aunt's house, but had to move again because it was within 1,000 feet of a church.

Bradshaw's next move put him squarely in the crosshairs of authorities: He registered at a family friend's address, but instead moved in with a girlfriend. He was arrested 12 days later and soon sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of failing to register.

To prosecutors, there's no question that state legislators clearly intended to raise the criminal penalties for repeat offenders who fail to register when they voted to do so overwhelmingly in April.

"That should be used as the best evidence of legislative intent - and society's view on the punishment," said Brannen.

But Bradshaw's attorneys contend it's a case where lawmakers have overstepped their authority.

"That's why we have the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment," said Persse. "The Legislature has the right to define crimes and set penalties, but that discretion ends when they impose a sentence that's grossly disproportionate to the offense." ..News Source.. by GREG BLUESTEIN