NJ- Galloway argues for sex offender residency law before NJ Supreme Court

3-24-2009 New Jersey:

1:08 p.m. Update - TRENTON – The New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments today about whether towns can restrict where convicted sex offenders live.

Attorneys for Galloway Township and a Richard Stockton College student, argued for about 90 minutes, along with lawyers for Cherry Hill, Camden County, a pair of former resident convicted sex offenders joined them and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and American Center for Law and Justice.

Also known as Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc., the Center is funding Galloway's fight. The ACLU is working in conjunction with Frank Corrado, who represented “G.H.”, as court papers identify the Stockton student who in 2006 successfully challenged a local ordinance banning sex offenders from living with 2,500 feet of places where children are likely to congregate.

The Wildwood-based attorney argued today that the state already created a system for placing convicted sex offenders after their release when it adopted New Jersey Megan’s Law in 1994. The state’s intent to be the authority on the matter, unaided by local ordinances, is made clear by subsequent laws on electronic-monitoring bracelets and sexually violent individuals, he said.

In rulings on the Cherry Hill and Galloway cases, Superior and Appellate courts have held that local ordinances conflict with and are subverted by state law.

Parole officers and other law enforcement officials currently are charged with balancing public safety with the need to rehabilitate and reintegrate convicted sex offenders when choosing a spot for them to live upon their release from prison.
Attorney Demetrios Stratis argued that the state law’s failure to quantify residency restrictions shows that towns can and should have them. They know best where children gather, so it would help parole officers unfamiliar with the area to maximize public safety, he said.

Stratis has handled the Galloway case on behalf of the Center since 2007.

He was optimistic after the proceedings. He also said he felt the judges had given Corrado and Schweiger “softballs,” and saved their pointed questions for him and Bill Cook, who represented Cherry Hill.

Attorney Scott Schweiger said he expects a decision within 45 to 60 days. He represented James Barclay and Jeffrey Finguerra, who were fined when they took too long to move from their living space in a motel near a high school in Cherry Hill.

Finguerra is jailed on an unrelated matter in Camden County. Barclay has left the area because he couldn’t find anywhere to live, Schweiger said.

“G.H.” is scheduled to graduate in 2010, four years after the township asked him to move from campus due to the proximity of the college daycare center, according to Corrado and Stratis.

Stratis counted 119 towns that had at one point adopted ordinances like those that spurred the cases heard today. Many have repealed or stopped enforcing them since the Superior Court ruled against Galloway. ..News Source.. by EMILY PREVITI Staff Writer