Judge Strikes Down Iowa Sex-Offender Law

MCall ^ | 2/9/04

[pabianice]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A federal judge on Monday struck down an Iowa law that prohibited convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and day-care centers.

The Iowa Civil Liberties Union had challenged the constitutionality of the law, claiming it effectively banished offenders from most cities and towns.

Judge Robert Pratt ruled that the 2002 law "unconstitutionally infringes" upon the rights of sex offenders. He issued an order prohibiting the state from enforcing the law, making permanent a temporary restraining order issued last summer.

[pabianice]

The ACLU will fight to make sure that no sexual offender be "unnecessarily" registered (Iowa). Meanwhile, the ACLU supports laws requiring law-abiding gun owners to notify the police before they can move (Massachusetts).

[per loin]

If you take a map of the city that you live in, and block out all areas that are within 2000 feet of a school or daycare, what per cent of the city is not blocked out?

[satchmodog9]

I know there are a lot of conservatives mad at the president over many of his policies. No matter how angry you may be this is exactly why i will never vote for a demonrat or waste a vote on a third party candidate. Left wing legal organizations and judges are the cancer that has led to the erosion of the American culture.

[Hebrews 11:6]

This isn't that hard: find where a child lives who is meaningful to this judge, a grandchild perhaps, condemn the house next door by eminent domain, and turn it into a halfway house for repeat sex offenders.

[cyborg]

Waiting for child molesters to be given the right to move into these people's neighborhoods.

[SandRat]

Then the first time one of the offenders hurts a kid from a school they live next to, the populace should go grab the ACLU scum and drag his butt to the ER room as the Assault evidence is being collected or the morgue and make him watch the entire autopsy. Then stand him in the dock with the pervert on accessory before the fact charges to the crime.

[Indie]

Pratt, Robert W.
Born 1947 in Emmetsburg, IA

Federal Judicial Service:

U. S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa
Nominated by William J. Clinton on January 7, 1997, to a seat vacated by Harold D. Vietor;
Confirmed by the Senate on May 23, 1997, and received commission on May 27, 1997.

Education:
Iowa Lakes Community College, A.A., 1967
Loras College, B.A., 1969
Creighton University School of Law, J.D., 1972

Professional Career:
Staff attorney, Polk County Legal Aid Society, Iowa, 1973-1974
Private practice, Des Moines, Iowa, 1975-1997

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The doctrine of abstract rights in action. "When everybody has rights, then no one has rights."-A Great Historian 1888

[FormerACLUmember]

No comment except my poster name.

[Catspaw]

The ACLU will fight to have sex offenders live next to schools, but I'd love to see their reaction if sex offenders moved in next to THEM.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Registering and banning sex offenders from certain areas of a city are BOTH, IMO, unneccesary and unconstitutional.

If a person is THAT much of a threat, what the hell are they doing out of prison?!

Send sex offenders away for life. Give repeat sex offenders who violate children the chair!

[Bob J]

Race or Ethnicity: White

"White" is a race?

[Viking2002]

God help the maggot that would walk up to me and say they represent the ACLU.

[Jimbaugh]

Anyone want to bet that the judge is a homo?

[Jimbaugh]

Same Judge Different Year.

Reproductive freedom

U.S District judge Robert Pratt issued a permanent injunction against the abortion ban that sailed through our legislature last year to be signed into law by Governor Branstad on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally vague and violated the right to privacy. Governor Vilsack wasted no time in urging Attorney General Tom Miller to appeal the ruling, which means that any initiatives to amend and clarify the so-called partial birth abortion law will be put on hold until after the conclusion of the court case. However, we can expect conservatives to continue their tradition of eroding away at the Roe v. Wade decision by finding other ways to attack access to family planning services.

[Jimbaugh]

Check out these judges and be afraid.

Clinton, Reno, Others to Join Justice Ginsburg at ACS National Convention http://www.acslaw.org/News.htm

ACS held its first National Convention on August 1-3, 2003, at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will address the convention spoke at a dinner on August 2.

Others participants at the ACS National Convention include: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Judges Richard Arnold, Rosemary Barkett. Deborah Batts, Helen Berrigan, Guido Calabresi, William Fletcher, John Gibbons, J. Michael Luttig, Boyce Martin, Theodore McKee, Abner Mikva, Diana Gribbon Motz, Robert Pratt, Louis Oberdorfer, Stephen Reinhardt, David Tatel, and Patricia Wald; Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Maria Cantwell and Charles Mathias; and Jonathan Adler, Nan Aron, Fred Baron, Paul Begala, James Bopp, Alan Brinkley, Carol Browner, Ira Burnim, Elizabeth Cabraser, Bradley Campbell, Erwin Chemerinsky, Daniel Collins, Joseph Curran, Angela Davis, Drew Days, Walter Dellinger, Maria Echaveste, Christopher Edley, William Eskridge, Cynthia Estlund, Martin Flaherty, Connie Garner, Suzanne Goldberg, Willis Goldsmith, Marcia Greenberger, Kent Greenfield, Jim Hecker, Wade Henderson, Antonia Hernandez, Jon Hiatt, Eric Holder, Dawn Johnsen, Elaine Jones, Elena Kagan, Pamela Karlan, Sally Katzen, Bill Lann Lee, Judy Lichtman, Goodwin Liu, William Marshall, Ray Marshall, Suzanne Martinez, Arlene Mayerson, Frank Michelman, Kate Michelman, Paul Miller, Cheryl Mills, Alan Morrison, Ralph Neas, Gene Nichol, Beth Nolan, Spencer Overton, Deval Patrick, John Payton, John Podesta, Michael Posner, Robert Post, Janet Reno, Anthony Romero, Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Jed Rubenfeld, Laurie Rubiner, Diann Rust-Tierney, Christopher Schroeder, Victor Schwartz, Reva Siegel, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Paul Smith, Gene Sperling, Bryan Stevenson, Nadine Strossen, Daniel Tarullo, James Tierney, Tony Varona, Rob Weiner, Roger Wilkins and Evan Wolfson.

[Jimbaugh]

There is no connection to liberals and child molesters is there?

ACS Summer Washington Event at Georgetown July 23, 2002

http://www.georgetownacs.org/pastevents.html

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton , Democrat of New York, headlined the American Constitution Society's Second Annual Summer Washington Event on July 23. The event, entitled "The Rehnquist Court: What's Next?" also featured U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of Iowa and former D.C. Corporation Counsel John Payton . Former Sixth Circuit Judge Nathaniel Jones , whose flight from Cincinnati to DC was, unfortunately, delayed for hours, arrived in time to deliver eloquent remarks at the reception that followed the formal speaking program. The event drew a huge, overflow crowd of judges, lawyers, professors, students, and others. You can read the transcript of the entire evening here, including introductory remarks by ACS Executive Director David Halperin and ACS President Peter Rubin and speaker introductions by ACS campus chapter leaders Shahid Buttar, Jennifer Hunter, Juliet Choi, and Joi Chaney, or read the transcript of just Senator Clinton's remarks

[trebb]

If you take a map of the city that you live in, and block out all areas that are within 2000 feet of a school or daycare, what per cent of the city is not blocked out?

Your point? Sex offenders have a habit of offending again and again, and all too often it ends up in a real tragedy - why should they expect to find convenient housing?

[per loin]

It's not a case of finding convenient housing, but of writing coherent law. As a quick exercise, I did a few rough calculations for the city I live in. The city extends over 48 square miles. A circle of 2000 foot radius encloses an area of .45 square miles. Ignoring for the moment, overlap and closest-possible-packing difficulties, my city consists of an area equal to about 107 such circles. My city has 56 public schools, and about 60 listed day care centers, plus private schools, church schools, employer provided day cares etc. In short, the theoretical area enclosed within the "banning" circles exceeds the area of the city. In practical terms what this likely means is that there are a few small areas in my city in which sex offenders could live if we had such a law here. What happens to the property values in such areas? Does the State of Iowa reimburse property owners in such sections in Iowa cities? Or do the property owners in such areas set up a small day care center to protect their property values?

[Indie]

LOL! Yeah I just noticed that!