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Putnam revises sex-offender law |
By Susan Elan
The Journal News
December 3, 2008
CARMEL - The Putnam Legislature last night approved a revised child-safety-zone law that limits where convicted sex offenders can live and work in the county and does not exempt those already in the community.
The board also unanimously backed a lease that maintains a food pantry and offices of a Brewster-based anti-poverty agency at 121 Main St., despite an appeal by County Clerk Dennis Sant to recoup space in the building for the storage of court and municipal documents.
"This is a wonderful victory for the people of Putnam and a validation that the county Legislature appreciates and understands the services we provide," Rosemarie Bahr, director of the Putnam Community Action Program, said after the vote at the Bureau of Emergency Services in Carmel.
About 50 county residents turned out for the monthly board meeting to show their support for those items.
Child-safety-zone legislation enacted in Putnam in April of 2007 was not enforced after county law enforcement and legal experts asked for review to protect Putnam taxpayers from costly court challenges.
Last night, Legislator Sam Oliverio, D-Putnam Valley, said the board's refusal to include a "grandfather clause" allowing convicted sex offenders already settled in the community to remain would prove costly and was likely to be struck down in court.
But the majority of legislators and residents in the audience said they were willing to take that risk.
"It's the beginning of a process that will require sexual offenders to vacate a child-safety zone within six months," said Neil Platt, a Brewster grandfather of two who led the drive for the county legislation. "In six months I will feel a lot safer."
Putnam's law prohibits convicted Level 2 and 3 sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of places where children congregate. Level 3 offenders are considered the most likely to commit a crime again, while Level 2 is considered a moderate risk. Level 1 offenders, the lowest-risk category, are excluded from Putnam's law.
"I feel thrilled that they passed the law," said Melissa Orser of Kent, a mother of five who lobbied for it after learning that a convicted sex offender had moved in near a day-care center attended by two of her children. "Every law can be challenged. What matters is the safety of our children."
The bill goes to County Executive Robert Bondi, who is expected to sign it.
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Sex offender law hashed and re-hashed |
By Eric Gross
Putnam County Courier
November 20, 2008
CARMEL-Putnam County will finally be implementing its new Child Safety Zone Law this December, despite a warning from the county's legal department that the law might not stand up to a constitutional challenge.
Members of the Putnam Legislature's Protective Services Committee, consisting of Terry Intrary, Mary Ellen Odell and Mary Conklin, discussed the tough bill for nearly two hours last week with District Attorney Adam Levy as well as representatives of the Putnam Sheriff's Department, Putnam Probation Department, Department of Social Services and the county's Department of Law.
Although the law was enacted on April 28, it has never been enforced. County officials were concerned that court decisions issued on similar laws in communities throughout New York and New Jersey challenging its constitutionality would add an unnecessary cost to Putnam taxpayers.
However, when two dozen proponents of the Child Safety Zone legislation attended the meeting and urged lawmakers to approve the mandate and forward it to the full legislature, the committee agreed to pass the legislation along.
Levy told the audience: "As a father of three young children, it is extremely important to me that children remain safe in their homes. As District Attorney, I must weigh my emotions with the constitutionality of the law proposed because as a taxpayer the last thing I want to see is a law, enacted with good intentions, be struck down following a pricey and lengthy challenge in court. None of us wants sex offenders living next to our children, but we must tread cautiously because under the Constitution sex offenders have rights and can't be prejudiced against."
Levy commended the legislators - especially Tony Hay - for "starting us rolling on the right path. We can look at our sister jurisdictions and determine what was done right, and what went wrong. Let's not repeat others mistakes. A law must be created that adds teeth to the New York State Law to better protect our children and families across Putnam County."
County Attorney Karen Lee urged that the county differentiate between levels of sex offenders. She also urged them to add a grandfather clause allowing those sex offenders already living or working within 1,000 feet of a school or place where children congregate to remain.
Intrary, a retired Carmel Police officer and resident of Kent who chairs the Protective Services Committee, said the original Putnam law would not stand the challenge of a lawsuit because the county didn't differentiate between levels of sex offenders. "Personally, (I believe) Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders should never be freed from prison. That's my feeling but there are constitutional rights for living in the USA. We live by laws and when our counsel tells us the Putnam law has too many holes in it like water running through a screen, we must re-think the legislation by making it tougher to stand the test of a high court after being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union," he said.
Putnam County currently has 42 registered sex offenders residing within its borders. Probation Director Gene Funicelli told the audience that sex offenders were a "high risk population. We keep them on a very tight leash."
Neil Platt of Southeast warned if the grandfather clause was eliminated "Putnam County will be giving sexual predators a free pass."
Jean Noel of Lake Carmel, who told the group about how her daughter was nearly abducted by a sexual predator 20 years ago, charged the county was "legislating out of fear of a challenge. Has a challenge ever been successful? A grandfather clause gives the community no safety. This is a county of the free but where are our rights?"
The legislation bars only Level 2 and Level 3 registered sex offenders from residing, working or entering within 1,000 feet of areas designated as child safety zones. Sheriff Donald Smith identified such areas or facilities as schools, parks, playgrounds, child care facilities and other places frequented by children.
Smith said "Putnam County was committed to protect its children from dangerous offenders through a process that is efficient, practical, and constitutional."
Levy charged that sex offenders "put the fear of God in all parents and grandparents in our communities. The Putnam law is practical, effective and constitutional. It will protect our families." |
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County Residents Demand Child Safety Zone Enforcement |
Legislators move forward despite possible legal challenges to County's 2007 sex offender regulations
by Kevin Foley
Putnam County News & Recorder
November 19, 2008
The controlled outrage of a group of articulate and insistent community residents won out last week over the heretofore deliberative approach of the Putnam County Legislature in the effort to actually enforce the County's 17-month-old Child Safety Zone law.
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