Lynn sex-offender ordinance struck down

LYNN – The city lost its second legal battle in nine months with a Supreme Judicial Court ruling striking down a city ordinance banning Level 2 and 3 sex offenders from living near schools, parks and playgrounds.City Solicitor Michael Barry quickly noted the ordinance, with its 1,000-foot residential exclusionary zone for sex offenders and $300-a-day fine, has sat on the books since its 2011 passage.?We never enforced the ordinance – no one suffered any damages – we didn?t displace anybody,” Barry said.But City Council President Daniel Cahill said city officials must sift through Thursday?s court decision and sort out its implications, including the possibility the city may have to pay upwards of $200,000 in legal bills stemming from the American Civil Liberty Union lawsuit filed against the ordinance.?We?re trying to figure out the financial impacts. The court is quite clear that this is unenforceable from a legal standpoint,” Cahill said.The SJC last December ruled state law superseded a 2013 city foreclosure-prevention ordinance, effectively stripping that ordinance down to a provision aimed at preventing foreclosed owners from being evicted.The high court in its 23-page decision on the sex-offender ordinance ruled that the local law “effects a wholesale displacement of sex offenders from their residences,” making it inconsistent with the state Sex Offender Registry Law.?The ordinance is inconsistent with the comprehensive statutory scheme governing the oversight of convicted sex offenders,” the court concluded.The SJC decision stated that the ordinance?s residency restrictions “effectively prohibits all Level 2 and Level 3 offenders from establishing residence, or even spending the night in a shelter, in 95 percent of the residential properties in Lynn.”The ordinance?s purpose, noted the court decision, was to “reduce the potential risk of harm to children of the community by impacting the ability of registered sex offenders to be in contact with unsuspecting children.”Convicted sex offenders must register under state law with the registry. Level 2 offenders are classified as having a moderate likelihood of reoffending, while Level 3 offenders are classified as likely to reoffend.In April 2014, 212 Level 2 and Level 3 offenders lived in Lynn, according to the SJC decision.The ACLU filed its lawsuit in 2012 on behalf of five sex offenders with the plaintiffs’ names collectively listed as “John Doe.”A Superior Court decision siding with the ACLU set the stage for an appeal through the SJC. Barry said the city is insured against damages in certain types of legal cases and was represented in the sex-offender-residency case by an insurance attorney.He said any cost to the city resulting from the high court decision will be covered by city insurance.Cahill said it is too early to say if the SJC decision will require the council to rescind the sex offender residency law. He said the court?s decision does not eliminate the concern parents, including himself, have about living near sex offenders.?Every parent is concerned about something happening to their child,” he said.