GA- Georgia Sex Offender Law Limits Renters

Registrants who are forced to move because of the discriminatory wording of this law, should begin to bill all moving expenses to the state through a Court of Claims (or whatever Georgia calls such court for damages against the state) action on their behalf!

7-9-2008 Georgia:

The state's new sex offender law went into effect July 1, and already some people on the list are feeling its ramifications.

Under the new law, registered sex offenders who rent homes or property are not protected if a place where children gather moves within a thousand feet of where they live.

Lonnie Davis, a registered offender in Laurens County, says he's moved all over Central Georgia trying to stay within the limits of the law.

"I've been in Milledgeville, Eastman, now East Dublin," said Davis. "I mean, you just keep feeling like you're homeless."

Davis was convicted of molestation nearly twenty years ago, but as 13WMAZ reported last year, those involved in his crime admitted he was falsely accused.

Davis says he's been fighting to get his name off the sex offender list since then, but until he does, he, like many other registered offenders, may have to lead nomadic lifestyles due to the new law.

"Every time I go to rent a place to live and I think I'm good, [the police] can show me that a school, a bus stop, a church is coming in and I'll have to move," he said. "You're being discriminated against... and whether you're guilty or not... there's nothing you can do about it now."

State Representative Tony Sellier of Fort Valley, one of the legislators who worked on and voted for the new sex offender law, says it's tough on people like Davis right now, but there's a fine line to walk.

"I realize there's a lot of gray in this," said Sellier. "And there'll probably be more changes ahead, but I'd rather err on the side of the children."

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, there are currently more than 15,000 registered sex offenders in the state, and just over 1,500 in Central Georgia. ..News Source.. by Evan Pinsonnault