NH- Sex offender wants Franklin to nullify residency restriction

3-20-2009 New Hampshire:

The man challenging the city's sex offender residence restriction ordinance has asked a judge to suspend its enforcement pending the results of his case.

In a petition for injunctive relief by N.H. Civil Liberties Union attorney Barbara Keshen in the Merrimack County Superior Court, Frank Singleton III says he will "remain incarcerated in N.H. State Prison despite the fact that the parole board has granted him parole" if the court does not grant his petition.

Singleton has been in the state prison since his November 2008 conviction for two counts of failing to register as a sex offender in both Tilton and Northfield where he resided at various addresses until his arrest in 2007.

Credited with a year's pretrial confinement, Singleton became eligible for parole in January 2008 but he has been unable to move into his girlfriend's home on West Bow Street because of City Ordinance 247.

Singleton has filed suit against both Mayor Kenneth Merrifield and Police Chief David Goldstein it their official capacities as the enforcers of Franklin's city codes.

In his initial filing, Singleton said his girlfriend deliberately chose an apartment that, according to Mapquest, an online mapping and direction service, was beyond the restrictions of the ordinance, being situated 2,532 feet from Franklin High School. Singleton's request to move into the apartment was denied because the ordinance specifies boundary-to-boundary measuring and puts her apartment house's property line within 2,500 feet of the school's boundary line.

Franklin City Attorney Paul Fitzgerald said the city, through its leaders, would continue to enforce Ordinance 247 until such time as a judge tells them not to.

The hearing for the preliminary injunction is March 30 in Merrimack County Superior Court.

"It's arbitrary," said Ward 3 City Councilor Jeff Rabinowicz who voted for the ordinance because he said his constituents indicated that is what they wanted him to do. "I said it was a bad idea then, but I'll stand by my vote," he said.

During the council's discussions that preceded the unanimous May decision, Rabinowitz, a lawyer, told the council he thought the law was unconstitutional. "I know the ACLU has been looking at this," said Rabinowitz at the time.

For former Police Chief and Ward 2 City Councilor Doug Boyd, the issue is much simpler.

"We passed this law for a reason. It wasn't arbitrary," Boyd said earlier this week. "We want to do anything we can to protect our children."

Following Franklin's lead, both Tilton and Northfield enacted similar policies in the ensuing months.

"I think the policy is a good one and we'll just have to see how the ruling goes," said Debra Shepard, chair of the Northfield Board of Selectman. "If it gets overturned, we'll deal with it then."

The Northfield Board of Selectmen held an extensive public hearing before its unanimous vote and Shepard said she thought both sides had compelling arguments but she felt being cautious was the proper approach, adding that her constituents were overwhelmingly in favor of the restriction.

One of Tilton's more vocal opponents to the residency restriction is Patrick Clark who said if people really looked at the data they would not be supporting the restrictions.

"It gives a false sense of safety and often drives registered sex offenders into not registering," Clark said.

He said Singleton was the very example, having been convicted twice and incarcerated for failing to register. He said the real problems is that "dyed-in-the-wool sex offenders often prey on those who are closest to them [socially]."

"I challenge people to come up with some statistics that support residency requirements," he said. ..News Source.. by GAIL OBER