City Sex Offender Ban in Doubt

A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling on local sex offender residency bans may affect legislation passed here in 2006.

The City Council approved restrictions on where registered sex offenders may live, so extensive that they virtually barred them from residing anywhere within its borders. Click here for a file of Plaintalker stories on the subject. The ban affected Tier 2 and 3 registered sex offenders, deemed the more risky of three categories. Tier 1 offenders fall into the "youthful indiscretion" category, such as teenagers having sex where one is underage.

According to news reports, the court ruling was based on the concept that state law on sex offenders supersedes local legislation. Those who want to bar registered sex offenders from being near anywhere that children may gather would have to seek changes in the state legislation, as I understand it.

--Bernice Paglia