Ohio Residency Restrictions cannot Constitutionally Apply Retroactively

So says The Honorable James S. Gwin:

A federal judge in Akron has ruled in favor a sex offender in a residency case.

Lane Mikaloff filed a lawsuit after he was ordered out of his home because he lives too close to a school.

U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin says the state's residency law is unconstitutional when applied to crimes committed before the law went into effect.

Mikaloff served 16 years in prison for raping a woman in 1986. The Ohio Legislature didn't ban sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school property until 2003.

The married father of 4 had said being forced to vacate his home would destroy his family and the efforts he's made to rebuild his life.

Mikaloff's victim has said she has forgiven Mikaloff and felt terrible about the eviction notice.

I looked at the district court's website and couldn't find the opinion posted (outside of PACER), but if anyone has a copy, feel free to forward it to me and I'll post it here.

HT: Sexoffenderissues

Update:  Thanks to a couple of readers, you can download the decision here.  As noted in the comments, you can also download the decision at f/k/a.  Sentencing Law & Policy is covering the case here and here. 

Comments

[Mark in Jersey]

If anyone needs a copy of the decision, please e-mail me at MarkGT (at) Gmail {dot} com.

And if you want to find it in PACER the docket is:

5:06-cv-00096-JG

Mikaloff v. Walsh et al
James S. Gwin, presiding
Date filed: 01/17/2006
Date terminated: 09/04/2007
Date of last filing: 09/04/2007

[david giacalone]

Hi, Corey. I just posted the decision in Milakoff v. Walash at f/k/a - http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/files/2007/09/mikaloff-v-walsh-ndoh.pdf