See earlier stories. Died because of a ill conceived law that protects no one. Given that there has not been a single crime reported nationwide, occurring in a protected place (school, etc.) by a registered sex offender living within the proscribed distance, this is a testament to the short sightedness of lawmakers.
Consider this, if the missions accepted him to sleep for the night, placing him within the proscribed distance to the prohibited places, those prohibited places would not even have any children in them at that time he would be sleeping. Clearly the laws protect no one:
1-30-2009 Michigan:
Thomas Pauli was found dead Jan. 26
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Grand Rapids homeless advocates say a man found dead in the snow had been frustrated because he could not find a place to stay.
A business owner found the body of Thomas Pauli, 52, next to the old A to Z Radiator shop in the 600 block of S. Division Ave. on Jan. 26. Pauli was crouched in a kneeling position. The medical examiner says the autopsy was inconclusive, though evidence showed Pauli might have froze to death. Police say foul play was not involved.
Officials at Degage Ministries, a mission that offers myriad programs for people in need, say they believe Pauli was unable to get into a shelter because he is on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.
State law "prohibits convicted sex offenders from residing, working or loitering within a student safety zone which is defined as the area that lies 1,000 feet or less from school property."
That law makes the Guiding Light Mission on Grand Rapids' Division Avenue off limits because Catholic Central High School is nearby.
The Guiding Light Mission, however, is refusing to say whether it had been forced to turn Thomas Pauli away. Shelter officials told 24 Hour News 8 they do not keep record of the people they turn away. But The Guiding Light did confirm that it refuses shelter to two to three people a month because of the state law regarding sex offenders.
Pauli was convicted in 1991 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under the age of 13 in Grand Traverse County.
Lori King, a supervisor at the Degage Life Enrichment Center, said Pauli was an intelligent, quiet and gentle man who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. She also said Pauli had gone through rehab and once told her he wanted to go back to school.
"He voiced how hard it was for him to find housing, to find employment, just to be accepted back into society, like he had a big X on his head and nobody was going to give him a chance," King told 24 Hour News 8. "I was nauseated to think about him outside freezing. I knew why he was outside. Enraged is putting it lightly."
Target 8 did a special investigation into the law designed to protect children, which unintentionally isolates convicted sex offenders. This makes it difficult for police to track their whereabouts and even harder for people on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry to get another shot.
"They're upholding the law, but that causes such a hardship for people in our community. People who've done their time but still have the stigma attached to them," said Marge Palmerlee, executive director of Degage Ministries.
"There needs to be an exemption for homeless shelters or we're going to have more tragedies," said homeless advocate Don Tack.
It's a problem Target 8 looked into nearly three years ago. At the time, even the Grand Rapids Police Department was concerned that some sex offenders were hard to find because of the law -- homeless with no address.
It's as if the law keeping them from living near schools defeated the other law requiring them to register so police know where they are.
"We've had conversations with political folks about the need to amend this and didn't really get anywhere in the past," said Tack.
Tack thinks Pauli's death might renew interest in amending the law.
There are already some exemptions built into the Michigan Sex Offender Registry law allowing patients in mental health facilities, for example, to live within those 1,000-foot school safety zones as they are known. ..News Source.. by Henry Erb and Jessica Leffler
1 comment:
Absolutely, positively disgusting. These are "minitries"???? Since when does "Man's Law" take precedence over "God's Law"??? Are you listening CHURCES AND MINISTRIES?
If EVER there was a case for "state created danger" this is it. The lawmakers once again CLEARLY have this man's blood ALL over their hands as do those in the mission that turned him away. Is it really "protecting society" better to have a registered sex offender wandering the streets at night with nothing left to lose and no hope like John Couey did? These laws are a total failure on EVERY front. 13 years of Megan's law and STILL they cannot prove that these laws have made any difference whatsoever and God knows what the real costs of all these laws are with nothing to show but hate and death. How Shameful.
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