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<p class="MsoNormal">I thought this might be of interest.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Deborah Caldwell-Stone [mailto:<a href="mailto:dstone@ala.org" target="_blank">dstone@ala.org</a>] <br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 05, 2010 12:24 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:ftrf-l@ala.org" target="_blank">ftrf-l@ala.org</a><br><b>Cc:</b> Theresa Chmara<br><b>Subject:</b> [ftrf-l] FW: ABQjournal: Sex Offender Library Ban Overturned </span></p></div></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/" target="_blank"><img height="45" src="http://www.abqjournal.com/base/newabqj_bw.jpg" width="95" align="left" vspace="5" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/022358487910newsstate04-02-10.htm" target="_blank">link to story:</a> <a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/022358487910newsstate04-02-10.htm" target="_blank">http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/022358487910newsstate04-02-10.htm</a> <br>
<br><a href="http://ads.abqjournal.com/oads/www/delivery/ck.php?bannerid=1442" target="_blank"><span style="COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: none"><img src="http://ads.abqjournal.com/oads/www/delivery/avw.php?bannerid=1442&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&ct0=INSERT_CLICKURL_HERE" border="0"></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'">Friday, April 02, 2010</span><span> <br><br></span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'">Sex Offender Library Ban Overturned</span></b><span> <br>
<br><span><a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/cgi-bin/email_reporter.pl?staff=yes" target="_blank"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; COLOR: #003366; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'">By Scott Sandlin</span></b></a></span><br>
</span><span><i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'">Journal Staff Writer</span></i></span><span><br></span><span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'"> A federal judge has invalidated a city rule that banned sex offenders from using the city's public libraries, finding that it violated the First Amendment as written. </span></span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Garamond','serif'"><br>
<span> U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo said at the conclusion of the 42-page opinion filed this week that she struggled to find the right legal balance between competing interests in the case, which was filed by the ACLU of New Mexico on behalf of a John Doe plaintiff in 2008. </span><br>
<span> On one side is the city, which Armijo said unquestionably has a legitimate interest in promoting public safety, while on the other side is a group of individuals that, "no matter how reviled, nevertheless possesses certain constitutional rights."</span><br>
<span> When those rights are burdened or, "in this case, wholly extinguished by an action of government," she wrote, the court has an obligation to closely scrutinize them and ensure that the end result is just. </span><br>
<span> The challenged regulation in the lawsuit brought "amounts to a wholesale ban extinguishing John Doe's fundamental and protected First Amendment right to receive information," Armijo wrote. The city failed to show that there were sufficient alternative channels of communication, she said, thus creating "an unacceptable risk of the suppression of ideas."</span><br>
<span> Because the ban was broadly written rather than finely tailored, it also violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under law, Armijo found. </span><br><span> ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson said no one questions the city's goal, "but this regulation sacrificed library access for too many people who present no threat to library-goers. </span><br>
<span> "A regulation like this must be narrowly tailored. ... For many people, public libraries are, as one court put it, 'the quintessential focus of the receipt of information.' "</span><br><span> Chris Ramirez, spokesman for Mayor Richard Berry, noted that the rule was implemented by the administration of former Mayor Martin Chávez. </span><br>
<span> "Mayor Berry will be getting together with his legal team to decide what to do about it," Ramirez said. He said the administration has been focused on pressing budget issues, stalling a closer look at the opinion, which attorneys received Thursday. </span><br>
<span> When Chávez banned sex offenders from city libraries, he said the move was intended to keep predators away from children and public computers. </span><br><span> "Libraries should be safe havens," he said. </span><br>
<span> Chávez said the city received two or three reports over the previous year of adults making inappropriate comments to children at libraries. </span><br><span> The city also wanted to ensure that sex offenders couldn't use library computers to contact youngsters online. </span><br>
<span> Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler announced plans in March 2008 for police to check the list of people with library cards against sex-offender registries and send criminal-trespass warnings to them, notifying them of potential arrest, fines and jail time for a repeat visit. </span><br>
<span> Armijo's ruling bars police from enforcing the rule. </span><br><span> "We did research and determined that other municipalities have banned sex offenders from parks, and there is more of a protected right to have access to parks than there is to a library," Wheeler said at the time. "We believe we're on solid footing."</span><br>
<span> But Simonson warned then that besides being too broad, the ban "misses the mark. Most sex crimes are committed in the home and by someone related to the victim."</span><br><span> </span></span><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"> </p></div></div></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Diedre Conkling<br>Lincoln County Library District<br>P.O. Box 2027<br>Newport, OR 97365<br>Work phone & fax: 541-265-3066<br>
Work email: <a href="mailto:diedre@beachbooks.org">diedre@beachbooks.org</a><br>Home email: <a href="mailto:diedre08@gmail.com">diedre08@gmail.com</a><br>