For years, Hand Up Ministries has been battling laws that make it difficult for convicted sex offenders to find a place to live and to get the help they need to get back on their feet. Now, the organization and a convicted sex offender have filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel and Attorney General Scott Pruitt claiming that a portion of the state's sex offender laws that prevents convicted sex offenders from sharing a residence is unconstitutional.
According to its website, Hand Up Ministries "a Faith based prison after-care program for men and women that have just been released from prison. The organization provides "housing complete with utilities, transportation, meals, clothing, hygiene products and, most importantly, a structured environment to help these men and women re-adjust to society." A Hands Up Ministries application lists extensive rules that are associated with residency at the ministry, including that all residents must maintain employment, adhere to a curfew, refrain from drug and alcohol use, and even avoid cursing and vulgarity. However, because the organization allowed two or more convicted sex offenders to share a trailer on the premises, it violated a provision of the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act that prohibits sex offenders from living together.
In 2011, the state passed a law that clarified the provision and seemed to specifically target the ministry. Rather than evicting nearly 100 sex offenders--leaving them homeless and likely unregistered--Hands Up Ministry erected a tent city on the premises. However, last year, city officials said that the tent city violated zoning ordinances, and the men were evicted. Of the approximately 100 men evicted from the ministry, 66 have failed to register and 11 have registered with false addresses. This means that 77 convicted sex offenders who were once registered and living in a place where they were working, drug free, and required to perform community service and to abide by strict rules are now unregistered and/or unaccounted for.
The pending lawsuit does not challenge all sex offender residency restrictions, such as the zone of safety that prevents a sex offender from living within 2,000 feet of a school, church, or daycare. Rather, it challenges only the constitutionality of the provision that prevents sex offenders from living together. According to an attorney handling the case, state law does not prevent other people convicted of like crimes--two burglars, two murderers, two arsonists--from living together, and it does not make sense, nor is it constitutional, to apply such a law only to sex offenders.
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