Rules keep sex offenders guessing

What is a joke here is, that, the lawmakers believes that, banning RSOs from parks is a form of monitoring them. One thing lawmakers are great at is, perverting the English language and spinning the public. Obviously, stopping RSOs from living in an area DOES NOT stop them from walking into or being in those areas, even then if someone wants to commit a crime, laws will not stop them.

9-15-2010 Indiana:

Lafayette resident Allana Diaz is comforted knowing that no child predators are living nearby when she takes her boys, ages 4 and 7, to play at city-run Murdock Park.

Since July 1, 2006, in Indiana, sex offenders against children have been banned from residing within 1,000 feet of public parks, schools and youth program centers.
"You worry that someone is going to snatch them when you look away for five, 10 seconds. So, yes, I think it's a great law," said Diaz, who was at Murdock with her sons Thursday afternoon.

Protecting children from harm was at the forefront for Hoosier lawmakers when they passed the residency restrictions. That also was the motivation behind Indiana's Sex and Violent Offender Registry, a public database that since 2003 tracks those criminals' home and work addresses and posts them online.

However, the effectiveness of such legal tools is debatable, and shifting interpretations of the laws keep offenders and officials on their toes.
One reason is that some of the statutory language is vague, leaving each county to determine how they'll be enforced.

And both the sex offender registry and the residency restrictions have been challenged on grounds that they violate ex post facto provisions of Indiana's constitution and the U.S. Constitution by imposing punishment retroactively.
Two Lafayette sex offenders were told they could move home last fall after the Indiana Supreme Court determined they owned their residences before the 2006 restrictions took effect.

Arbitrary distance?

"If the folks know they're going to be monitored consistently, it does create an atmosphere where they know people are watching," said state Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette. "Strong monitoring is the key there."

This is really sad, monitoring means knowing where the former offenders live (i.e., sleep for a few hours of the day/night.), in the eyes of this lawmakers. How in heavens name is that monitoring? Lawmakers continue to bamboozle the public!

She voted in favor of the residency restrictions.

But Klinker acknowledged that nothing in that legislation prevents child sex offenders from spending their days at the so-called child safety zones.

"They can stay all day in the park, so long as they go home to sleep," Klinker said. "I expect this could be something brought up at the state level. ... This is a very good point that probably should be investigated." ..Source.. SOPHIA VORAVONG