R.I. ACLU to sue over Level III sex offender housing ban

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday that it will file a lawsuit challenging a new state law that makes it a crime for high-risk sex offenders to live within 1,000 feet of a school.

In a statement Thursday, the ACLU said the new law raises “grave constitutional concerns,” along with being “unwarranted, misguided and counter-productive.” The ACLU will seek a court order to halt the law’s implementation, which is leaving dozens of sex offenders scrambling to move or risk arrest.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said he is asking the state director of administration and Crossroads Rhode Island to come up with a plan for housing homeless sex offenders. The new law has made Harrington Hall, which is in Mattiello’s district in Cranston, the only shelter for high-risk sex offenders — and he said his constituents are complaining.

“It’s unfair to the citizens of Cranston to house all the Level III sex offenders,” Mattiello said.

All registered sex offenders in Rhode Island have been banned from living within 300 feet of schools since 2008, but in June the General Assembly expanded the ban to 1,000 feet for Level III sex offenders, those considered most likely to reoffend. Governor Raimondo signed it into law in July.

The legislation was pushed by Warwick Democrat Rep. Joseph McNamara, after one Level III sex offender moved two streets away from his family and 800 feet from an elementary school, and another moved 400 feet from another elementary school.

The result has meant dozens of sex offenders throughout Rhode Island must find new homes, or risk being charged with a felony that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

In Providence, where most of the sex offenders in Rhode Island live, the expanded zone bans Level III offenders from living in 64 percent of the city and all of the homeless shelters. Last week, Providence police, probation and parole officers, and the attorney general’s office informed nearly 40 sex offenders living in Providence that they had until Nov. 2 to move. One moved into a tent off Huntington Avenue, and another is living in his girlfriend’s car at India Point Park, said Officer Timothy Rudd, who manages the city’s 459 offenders.

The legislation was opposed by the Rhode Island Public Defenders office and homeless advocates, as well as the ACLU, which unsuccessfully sued to stop the original residence law. Day One, the agency that serves victims of sexual assault, also opposes these residence restrictions, saying they amount to a “false sense of security.” Experts who’ve studied the impact of these laws in other states say there’s no evidence the laws are effective — and they are likely to have “unintended consequences” by making it difficult for offenders to find housing and treatment.

Mattiello said the “unintended consequences” have meant more sex offenders moving to his district.

He did not have details of the housing plan Wednesday. “I believe there’s plenty of affordable housing,” Mattiello said. “One way or another, you’re going to pay for housing.”

Mattiello said there’s no political will to rescind the new law. “You’re dealing with a population that’s hard to manage, because they’re dangerous folks, and people don’t want them around children,” Mattiello said. The sex offenders “brought the difficulty upon themselves and the crimes they committed.”

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