Attorney General Baker wants answers in sex offender ruling
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker wants a clear answer about how a Nov. 21 Supreme Court decision will affect Georgia's sex offender law.

In a case two weeks ago, Justice Carol Hunstein struck down a residency portion of that law which prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of any place children gather.

The case at hand involved Clayton County sex offender and homeowner Anthony Mann, who was suing the Department of Corrections after his family was forced to move when two new daycare centers opened nearby.

Justice Hunstein ruled in Mann's favor, calling Georgia's residency restriction "unconstitutional." That decision sent ripples through law enforcement agencies across the state as deputies here and everywhere were left wondering if the residency requirement was lifted for all of Georgia's 15,000-plus offenders … or only the ones in Mann's situation.

Attorney General Baker wonders too.

Last Thursday, he signed off on a motion requesting reconsideration or clarification of the ruling.

It was filed on behalf of the Department of Corrections, the State of Georgia and probation officer Joshua Barnette.

The motion questions whether the decision is a "blanket declaration" or whether it applies "only to registered sex offenders who own property and are in circumstances similar to the situation faced by the Appellant (Mann)."

The motion indicates that the latter seems probable, noting that Hunstein found the code section unconstitutional because it permits regulatory taking of property without "just and adequate compensation" - an opinion that could, arguably, only extend to sex offenders who actually own property.

In the meantime, law enforcement agencies will be left in a lurch until late December when the clarification is expected to be issued.

According to Deputy Chief James Hollingsworth of the Burke County Sheriff's Office, his agency has taken a "wait and see" stance and will continue to enforce the residency requirement until the court decision has been officially clarified.