The City of Stockton’s sex offender ordinance was challenged today in federal district court. The ordinance prohibits all registered citizens from loitering in or within 300 feet of public parks, libraries, and swimming pools as well as privately owned video arcades and recreational areas.
“This is the tenth ordinance to be challenged in ten weeks,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “It is our hope that all cities and counties that have similar ordinances will soon choose to repeal their ordinances which violate both the state and federal constitutions.”
The first lawsuit in the series of ten lawsuits filed which challenge city or county ordinances was a challenge against the City of Pomona (March 24). The next eights lawsuits to be filed challenged ordinances adopted by the City of South Lake Tahoe (March 31), National City (April 4), Carson (April 11), Lompoc (April 21), Sacramento County (April 30), Santa Ana (May 7), Wasco (May 16), and Ontario (May 21).
Settlement negotiations, which include repeal of the challenged ordinance and attorneys fees, have begun with three of the ten cities against whom lawsuits have been filed. In addition, more than 20 cities including Anaheim, Tustin, El Centro, Porterville, and Claremont have repealed or agreed to repeal their sex offender ordinances without being sued.
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