That was followed by Megan’s Law in 1996, which required all states t o develop and implement a community notification procedure. It also required states to track sex offenders by confirming their addresses annually for 10 years after their release from prison or quarterly for the rest of their lives if convicted of a violent sex crime. The movement to make sex offenders the only class of criminals with a public registry began nationally in 1994 when Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Act (these laws are named after child victims in heinous crimes), which established the federal sex offender registry and provided guidelines for states to follow suit. “We have to stop ignoring the evidence,” said Cindy Prizio, executive director of Connecticut for One Standard of Justice. Christopher Kervick said he expects the town to be flexible and open to modifying the ordinance if that will satisfy the plaintiffs.īoth the bill and the lawsuit may shed light on an area of the law that advocates believe is driven by misinformation and bad data. He said it is very early in the case, and he expects a discussion about strategy soon. The town has hired outside counsel to defend the ordinance, said town attorney Carl Landolina. The suit claims banning a group of people from these facilities is unconstitutional. The town’s “child safety zones” include a “park, school, library, playground, recreation center, bathing beach, swimming pool or wading pool, gymnasium, sports field, or sports facility” either owned or leased by the town.