Saturday, April 29, 2000
Megan's Law upheld in Ohio
By Michael Hawthorne
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Neighbors and police should continue to be notified when a sex offender moves to town, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Friday, rejecting challenges to the state's version of Megan's Law.
The seven-member court voted unanimously to reverse an appellate decision that the law deprives rapists and other sex offenders of their constitutional right to privacy.
Ruling in a separate case, the court ordered the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to give a convicted rapist, Huey L. Gowdy, another hearing to determine the level of notification given to the community where he moves after his release from prison.
Friday's rulings by Ohio's top court provided the most definitive affirmation to date of the state's 1997 sex offender registration law, which was inspired by the case of a 7-year-old New Jersey girl raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender living in her neighborhood.
Required to register
“This is a good decision for children and families,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen. “I hope it settles this issue once and for all.”
Under the law, sex offenders are required to register their home addresses with local police upon their release from prison. Their names and addresses are made public and neighbors, school officials and day care centers are notified about their presence in the community.
Several convicted sex offenders challenged the law, claiming it violated their right to privacy and deprived them of the ability to own property or get a job.
Writing for the court, Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer rejected those argu ments and reversed an 11th District appellate court ruling that struck down the law.
“The information at issue is a public record, and its characteristic as such does not change depending upon how the public gains access to it,” Chief Justice Moyer wrote.
Appeal uncertain
Since a convicted sex offender must find a place to live before notifying police of his whereabouts, “the right to acquire property has not been implicated,” he wrote.
Moreover, he wrote, the notion that the notification would prevent people from finding work “is, based upon the record before us, mere speculation.”
In the Hamilton County case, the court ruled that Mr. Gowdy's defense attorney wasn't given enough time to prepare for a hearing to determine his classification under the sex offender law. The decision upheld the law but ordered another hearing.
Robert Lane, the state's chief appellate public defender, said his office hasn't decided whether to appeal the decisions to federal courts.
Defense attorneys argued the law subjects sex offenders to continued punishment even after they've served their time in prison.
“I'm disappointed,” Mr. Lane said. “These are people who sometimes do lengthy prison sentences and when they get out they are faced with a lifetime of persecution.”
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