Lynn draws up map of locations for sex offenders

David Liscio / The Daily ItemLYNN – The city is preparing a map that pinpoints every school, playground and licensed daycare center as well as the current address of convicted Level III sex offenders who, under an ordinance that went into effect July 12, are prohibited from living within 1,500 feet of these facilities.Once the map is completed, the city will send letters of notification to the Level III offenders living within the buffer zones, requiring them to relocate.Assistant City Solicitor James Lamanna said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already contacted the Law Department, seeking information about the sex-offender ordinance, the comprehensive map and the pending letters of notification.”Shortly after the ordinance went into effect, an attorney for the ACLU asked for background information. I indicated more than likely the letters would not be going out within that 30-day period,” Lamanna said. “Somebody still has to do the legwork, getting the addresses of the Level III offenders and putting them on the map.”Lamanna said Lynn has more than 400 licensed daycare centers, some with a handful of children, others with dozens. “There are an amazing number of daycare centers in the city of Lynn,” he said. “We got the list from the state Web site. Now Public Works is doing the mapping to see who is in potential violation because they live within the radius.”The attorney explained that the City Council may vote on which municipal office sends out the letters once the map is drawn. “It could be the Law Department, the Police Department or the city clerk’s office,” he said. “Any one of those would be appropriate to be designated to obtain the Level III sex offender information and then to generate the letters.”Other Massachusetts communities with sex-offender laws have not been challenged, said Lamanna, adding, “Most of them are small communities. Lynn is by far the largest municipality in Massachusetts to enact a law of this kind.”The ACLU has not made a formal challenge in Lynn. “When the map is completed, I will send them a copy as a courtesy and inform them when the letters are going out,” Lamanna said.Failure to move from the restricted areas could result in a $300 fine, notification made to the sex offender’s probation officer and a criminal charge.Last May 7, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled that towns cannot ban sex offenders from living near schools, parks or other places where children gather. In doing so, the court struck down two municipal ordinances n in Cherry Hill and Galloway townships n that restricted where convicted sex offenders could live. As a result, the ruling invalidated similar laws in more than 100 other towns across New Jersey.Officials in Sebago, Maine in 2007 restricted the activities of convicted sex offenders, setting 2,500 feet as the distance from playgrounds, ballfields, parks, buildings and summer camps where children are present. In Weymouth last year, a similar law for Level III offenders was enacted, with a 1,500-foot radius measured from the house, apartment, condominium, motel, hotel or other residence inhabited by the sex offender. Like the Lynn ordinance, the Weymouth law included a “notice to move” provision so that once effective, all sex offenders living within 1,500 feet of the specified venues would be in violation.The Weymouth police chief has asserted that notifying the sex offenders about their illegal residences is a civil process not a police matter. A letter sent to each by certified mail should suffice, he said.Methuen, too, passed an ordinance restricting sex offenders, using 1,000 feet as a radius from where children gather. Sex offenders living within that radius were notified they must relocate. Rockland and Pembroke also took action in 2007 by passing ordinances to curtail the activities of sex offenders and restricting where they can live.In Marlborough, the mayor in 2006 vetoed a council vote that established a 2,500-foot radius for sex offenders from