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Sources in Sex
Offender Controversy Troubling
By Bob Robinson
Editor
One source used to
“support” residency restrictions actually “states point-blank that
residency restrictions are not effective.”
A local citizen has indicated that some of the sources being used to
push wider restriction zones aren’t being correctly used. For
instance, one of the sources used says…
“As a result of the laws restricting residential locations for
registered sex offenders, the land area livable for RSOs is restricted
and that forces them to relocate to less desirable and socially
disorganized areas…”
The resident said that doesn’t seem to be an argument for wider zones.
There has been considerable controversy over John Graham and his Good
Samaritan Homes, with most of the commentary coming either from Graham
himself or from those opposing his program. The concern is over the
concentration of sex offenders he mentors when they are released from
prison.
Currently there is legislation before Greenville City Council to extend
a current ban of 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet, and expand the number of
areas that are off-limits to registered sex offenders.
While many vocally support the legislation under consideration, few
vocally oppose it. Graham has said that if it passes, he will file a
lawsuit to stop its implementation. From his perspective, it will
effectively tell sex offenders they can’t live in Greenville, which
violates the rights of those who need mentoring, and who society says
have paid their debt.
One individual has been quietly following the controversy. This person
looked up some of the sources being used to promote the expansion of
the restriction zone – which have been published by County News Online
and other local news outlets – and found the manner in which they are
being used troubling.
He (generic) has requested to remain anonymous due to his position in
the community. CNO has verified the information and agreed to the
request.
He wrote that the above quote was taken from page 12 of a study
published by four researchers in 2010 called “Social Disorganization
and Registered Sex Offenders: An Exploratory Spatial Analysis.”
File links for this and the next source quoted will be provided at the
end of the article.
He said that the studies show “problems inherent in imposing residency
restrictions on sexual offenders,” not the other way around.
The term “clustering” is used “to describe what Graham is doing, when
in fact this study uses the term to describe an unintended consequence
of what happens as more and more restrictions are put into place,” he
said. “So, this study is actually AGAINST housing restrictions, not for
it, as (we have been led to believe).”
He quoted the following from the study’s introduction:
“As the supposedly worst of the worst, sex offenders today face strict
sentencing, post-release monitoring, community notification of their
release and re-entry, lengthy and public registration procedures and in
many jurisdictions restrictions on where they may live, work and spend
time. Such efforts have been shown to have the overall effect of
relegating sex offenders to communities that have myriad other social
problems, notably greater social disadvantage and disorganization.”
He noted the conclusion of the study on page 25…
“Instead of promoting the concentration of RSOs by restricting the
areas for them to live, efforts to revitalize and preserve a sense of
community would help in the long-run towards solving RSO clusters.”
Also quoted in some of the information that has been published are
comments from an Alisa Klein at a 2010 Conference of the National
Institute of Justice.
“Again, Ms. Klein actually states the opposite of (what is being
claimed),” he said. “She states point-blank that residency restrictions
are not effective and she goes further in stating that notification is
not effective either.”
In the transcript, referring specifically to residency restrictions and
notification laws, Klein said that the current policy to “increase
punishment, increase surveillance and to really monitor sex offenders
in a way that we've seen from the research is actually not very
effective.”
She also said this focus on “known sex offenders” is problematic.
“These are not the methodologies that we need to put into place to keep
sex offenders from reoffending,” she said. “In fact, we're seeing
collateral consequences from this kind of legislation.”
She told the conference that society needs to find a way to manage and
supervise sex offenders, determine who can be kept from perpetrating in
the future and a more collaborative approach on how to respond to known
sex offenders.
In their entirety, the sources support Graham’s claims that residency
restrictions don’t solve the problem and that, in many cases, they
exacerbate it.
Not the opposite, as has been claimed.
The resident said the number of RSOs in Ohio is a little over 19,000,
or about one for every 601 residents. Darke County has 84, or one for
every 619 residents.
This point contradicts statistics reported elsewhere, however CNO has
not attempted to verify them.
“A society that does not protect its children is doomed,” the writer
noted, adding that he sympathized with those families living near
Graham’s homes. He said that he was concerned that the homes are under
Graham’s name, and about the concentration in one area.
Which, according to the study, is an unintended consequence of
residency restrictions.
He added, however…
“This is a huge problem with numerous challenges, but we cannot simply
tell our problems to go away.”
Sources quoted:
“Social Disorganization and Registered Sex Offenders: An Exploratory
Spatial Analysis.” Geetha Suresh, University of Louisville, Elizabeth
Ehrhardt Mustaine, University of Central Florida, Richard Tewksbury,
University of Louisville and George E. Higgins, University of
Louisville. Link: http://utsa.edu/swjcj/archives/7.2/Suresh%20Article%20(4).pdf
Comments by Alisa Klein at a June 2010 Conference of the National
Institute of Justice… Link: http://nij.ncjrs.gov/multimedia/video-nijconf2010-klein.htm
Bob Robinson is the
retired editor of The Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio, a Senior Scribe
and Editor of County News Online. If you wish to receive a daily
notification of County News Online posts, send your email address to:
countynewsonline@gmail.com. Feel free to express your views.
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