A new legal attack against local sex offender residency restrictions

Among the many interesting aspects of the new boom in sex offender residency restrictions is their local flavor: more recent sex offender residency restrictions have been enacted by localities than by states.  (Meanwhile, the federal government has not enacted or even considered seriously any national residency restrictions, despite doing a lot of recent work on sex offender sentencing.)

Intriguingly, as detailed in this article, the New Jersey state Public Defender's Office is bringing a new legal attack on the power of localities to create sex offender residency restrictions in the Garden State.  Here are some details:

In a bid to prevent a 76-year-old sex offender and his mentally ill wife from being forced out of their home a week from today, the state Public Defender's Office filed a lawsuit yesterday contending municipalities have no power to establish "pedophile-free zones." 

If successful, the lawsuit could invalidate dozens of local ordinances restricting where sex offenders may live.  Alpha, Bloomfield, Cranford, Freehold, Middletown, Mount Olive, Phillipsburg, Pohatcong, Sayreville and Washington Borough are just a few of at least 46 municipalities that have adopted such restrictions.

Some recent related posts:

• California's sex offender residency restriction proposition
• The scattered law of sex offender residency restrictions
• Consequences of California's new proposed sex offender law
• How will Foley's folly impact the sex offender panic?
• Liberty versus security in the war on ... sex offenders