There is no doubt this is a confusing case because of all the courts Dowell has gone through, so I am going to gather the chronological articles and post all here (bottom up). Recap, he started in City Court then moved to Circuit Court trying to get waivers from the ordinance. Now he is back in Clark Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance
of the Ordinance
8-26-2008 Indiana:
(WHAS11) - A Clark County sex offender ordinance was challenged in a Jeffersonville court Monday afternoon.
It involves the case of Eric Dowdell, a convicted sex offender who wants to be allowed to visit city parks.
Eric Dowdell’s son plays sports, and he wanted to be allowed to go to games.
Earlier this month a judge ruled that based on his past convictions, Dowdell continues to be a threat to the community and his request to go to local parks was denied.
Now the ACLU is involved.
“Myself, I feel more comfortable without those types around” says Al Thompson, a grandfather.
By “those types”, Al Thompson means sex offenders.
Currently, Jeffersonville prohibits sex offenders from entering public parks. But that could change. The ACLU argued in court Monday that any ordinance to keep anyone out of public place is unconstitutional.
”Why not keep people out who have prior convictions of littering,” said ACLU Attorney Ken Falk, who is representing Eric Dowdell.
Ken Falk argues that Eric Dowdell, the man at the root of this debate, is no longer required to register as a sex offender, so the state of Indiana must not consider him dangerous.
But Dowdell has a criminal record that includes domestic battery. Most recently he’s charged with domestic battery and strangulation. Falk says that has no relevance in this case. But Circuit Court Judge Abe Navarro ruled that his criminal history proves he’s a threat, and he shouldn’t be allowed into city parks.
”We believe the city ordinance has what’s required to pass constitutional muster,” says Larry Wilder, representation for the City of Jeffersonville.
”As far as parents and grandparents go, I don’t want to worry about whether this is a safe place for my kids to be,” says Grandfather Al Thompson.
”I’m sure Falk and I will be arguing this in Indianapolis in front of a different set of judges,” says Wilder. ..News Source.. by WHAS11
Jeff parks ordinance challenged
Prohibiting a man convicted of sexual battery 10 years ago from going to a Jeffersonville park to watch his son play baseball is irrational and unconstitutional, a Clark Superior Court judge was told today.
The park ban imposed on Eric Dowdell and others by a city ordinance enacted last year “bans people who have had no offense in a park” and violates Dowdell’s “rights to personal autonomy,” said Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana.
Falk also told Judge Vicki Carmichael there is nothing to support an argument that Dowdell presents a particular risk to children in the park.
But Larry Wilder, the lawyer who wrote Jeffersonville’s sex offender ordinance, argued that cities have the authority to make laws protecting their citizens in city parks. Use of parks “is not a fundamental right and constitutional protections don’t apply,” Wilder said.
Dowdell, 36, lives in Clarksville but his son plays baseball in Jeffersonville. Dowdell also wants to use city parks to play basketball and baseball himself, watch Thunder Over Louisville and take part in other lawful activities, Falk said in a court filing.
Dowdell has twice sought court waivers from the city’s sex offender ordinance. A waiver was denied in 2007 because he didn’t provide all the required documents. It was denied earlier this year because of Dowdell’s police record since his 1996 sex offense.
Carmichael, whose hearing was to consider the constitutional claims in the case, said she would issue a decision after Sept. 12, the deadline for the lawyers to submit final documents.
Dowdell pleaded guilty to domestic battery and battery in separate incidents in 1999 and 2001 involving his son’s mother. He also has agreed to plead guilty to domestic battery involving an incident earlier this year with a different woman.
But Falk said today the more recent offenses have no bearing on whether the parks ordinance is constitutional. The ACLU is concerned because the ordinance is one of several in Indiana and around the country that erode the rights of sexual offenders after they have completed their sentences, he said.
While it is important for cities to protect their children, Falk said in an interview, the problems with such ordinances is “where do you stop?”
Wilder, in an interview, said if the Jeffersonville ordinance is struck down, it will raise a question about “where do you stop” in limiting a city’s authority to protect its citizens.
Ultimately, he said, cities could be unable to control their parks. ..News Source.. by The Courier-Journal
Clark County judge denies sex offender’s request for exemption
8-8-2008 Indiana:
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A judge has rejected a request from a convicted sex offender who wanted to watch his son play baseball despite a city ordinance banning sex offenders from parks.
Eric Dowdell, 36, had requested the exemption at a hearing Thursday, saying he wanted to enter parks to watch his 11-year-old son’s baseball and football games.
Clark Circuit Judge Abe Navarro denied the request. In his written ruling, he cited three battery charges against Dowdell since his 1996 sex offense. Navarro said Dowdell still presents a danger to the community.
Attorney Gavin Rose of the American Civil Liberties Union, who represented Dowdell at the hearing, has indicated that the ACLU could consider an appeal. He said previous battery incidents have no bearing on whether his client would pose a danger to the community in a park.
Dowdell in 2006 completed a 10-year term on the Indiana sex-offender registry, Rose said, and satisfied conditions in the ordinance that allow consideration for an exemption to the ban.
Dowdell was put on the sex-offender registry after admitting that he engaged in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl when he was 21, according to court records. He was given a three-year suspended sentence, the records show.
Dowdell has said that there should be a distinction between someone like him, who made a mistake years ago and has been a good parent, and someone who might harm children.
But city attorneys have argued that the park ban on sex offenders is constitutional because there is no fundamental right to go to parks. ..News Source.. by AP
Sex offender renews effort to enter Jeffersonville parks
8-7-2008 Indiana:
A convicted sex offender who was turned down twice by Jeffersonville City Court when he asked to be an exception to an ordinance banning sex offenders from city parks took his case to Clark Circuit Court today.
Eric Dowdell, 36, who completed his required 10-year listing on Indiana’s sex offender registry in 2006, wants to attend his son’s baseball games at the city’s Little League complex.
Dowdell was convicted in 1996 of sexual battery.
Dowdell’s lawyer, Gavin Rose of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued this morning that Dowdell has satisfied all the conditions of the city ordinance to get an exception and is not a danger to the community.
But Jeffersonville lawyer Larry Wilder disagreed, citing domestic violence convictions against Dowdell from 1999 and 2001 as well as a pending case from this year.
The ban on sex offenders in city parks, adopted in 2006, allows offenders who have completed their legal obligations to petition the City Court for an exception. But City Court Judge Ken Pierce denied Dowdell’s petition in April, just as his predecessor R. Scott Lewis did last year.
Parties to City Court rulings may ask a state court to take a fresh look at the matter, and Dowdell did so.
Circuit Judge Abe Navarro said he will issue a ruling tomorrow. ..News Source.. by The Courier-Journal
No comments:
Post a Comment