ACLU challenges Lynn sex offender law

LYNN – The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the city of Lynn on behalf of area sex offenders challenging the legality of the city?s sex offender ordinance, City Attorney James Lamanna said Tuesday.?Last week we received a call from the ACLU that they intended to file a lawsuit?on behalf of at least five Level 3 sex offenders living in Lynn,” Lamanna said.The ordinance in question bars any Level 2 or Level 3 sex offender residing in Lynn from living within 1,000 feet of a school, park or other private or public recreational facilities. The Lynn ordinance is based on a Barnstable ordinance that was upheld in court, Lamanna said.?The ACLU is taking a different tack and essentially arguing there are so many schools, parks and playgrounds in the city (that) the ordinance has placed an unfair burden on the individuals,” Lamanna said. “They indicated they filed a preliminary injunction and gave us 10 days to respond, and we will respond as quickly as possible.”City Council President Tim Phelan called the ordinance “common sense” and said the ACLU?s argument was an example of political correctness going too far.View a map of all of the convicted Level 3 sex offenders living in Lynn and nearby schools and parks.?They should have thought about that before they committed the offense to make them a level 3 offender,” he said. “When you do things that egregious you?re deemed likely to re-offend, and I feel good about (the ordinance) because I?ll do anything to protect the children of this city.The city sent notices to 25 individuals that they were violating the ordinance, Lamanna said, and gave them the opportunity to prove they lived with an immediate family member, including a mother, father, child or spouse. About nine people produced evidence they met the exception and the rest were due to receive citations starting today.Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi said he felt “hopeful” the ordinance would withstand the ACLU?s challenge. If it does not, he said the council wouldn?t hesitate to tighten and tweak the rule until it passed legal muster.?If they rule adversely to our ordinance, I think we would have to revisit it and adjust it so it would meet whatever legal requirements it may be overturned for,” Lozzi said.Lamanna said he anticipated the issue would be decided at a court hearing in Newburyport in early to mid-May, but the city would hold off on issuing citations until then.?The sooner we can resolve this, the better,” he said.A check of the city?s list of Level 3 sex offenders by the Item in January showed about 15 out of the 64 Level 3 sex offenders in the city living near schools and parks.The Sex Offender Registry Board is a state agency that classifies offenders according to risk. A Level 3 sex offender has been classified by the state as most likely to re-offend and most dangerous to the public.John Reinstein, legal director of the Massachusetts branch of the ACLU, did not return phone calls from the Item Tuesday night.?I don?t need a judge or the ACLU to tell me what?s right or what?s wrong, and this is where common sense takes over,” Phelan said. “The right thing to do is to keep Level 3 sex offenders away from schools, and away from playgrounds and away from parks.”Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].