"Sex offender residency laws are ineffective"

Syracuse.com is running an interesting editorial of the ineffectiveness of the state's sex offender residency laws:

In Iowa, prosecutors are now calling for a repeal of a state residency restriction law. They criticize such laws because, among other things, "research shows that there is no correlation between residency restrictions and reducing sex offenses against children or improving the safety of children." The Iowa prosecutors also note that "law enforcement has observed that the residency restriction is causing offenders to become homeless, to change residences without notifying authorities of their new locations, to register false addresses or to simply disappear."

When offenders fail to maintain proper registration as a direct or indirect result of residency restrictions laws, such as those recently passed in Tully and previously enacted in Jordan, Cicero, Cayuga County and Auburn, no one is truly safer. Before spending the taxpayers' time and money on ineffective measures such as these residency laws, our local elected officials should first educate themselves on the facts and not just react to undifferentiated, hysterical fear that does not in fact protect our children.