08/22/2011
By Joe Petrie
Sussex trustees will meet Tuesday to continue talking about whether the village should enact an ordinance that would restrict where sex offenders could live.
Village leaders have been debating possible restrictions on sex offenders and where they can live or travel for months, however, due to the pitfalls such an ordinance can have, trustees want to discuss it as a whole before they proceed.
Village Administrator Jeremy Smith said trustees will not take any action at Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting and public input will not be taken at that time.
“This is just to educate them about what’s out there,” he said.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at Village Hall.
Many communities across southeastern Wisconsin have restrictions on where sex offenders can live or where they can go in a community. While such ordinances were crafted to keep released offenders away from areas where children may be, some communities with such laws have faced large legal bills because those ordinances are litigated on a case-by-case basis.
- Where someone sleeps (residency restrictions) has nothing to do with preventing crime or protecting anybody, but it's all about forced banishment/exile. Most sex crimes committed, are in the victims own home, family or close friends, not some stranger. People need to stop ignoring this fact, and stop passing laws that will do nothing to protect anybody, just so they can "look tough" on crime while doing nothing. It is wasting time and money!
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections also has warned the village about such an ordinance because officials have found that more released offenders lie about where they live when such laws are enacted.
