It’s a Conservatives and child advocates wet dream (what happened today in Chicago). A federal appeals court in Chicago upheld an Indiana law that barred convicted sexual predators from roaming children’s parks in effort to get their rocks off. Apparently, getting your rocks off at the expense of children’s safety is not constitutionally protected.

Sorry ACLU and child molesters, the taxpayers do not have to make it easier for you to violate children.

There is hope for us yet.

From www.indystar.com:

Park ban on molesters upheld
Federal court ruling gives advocates hope that city’s ordinance can survive challenge

By Richard D. Walton
richard.walton@indystar.com
A federal appeals panel ruled this week that a convicted child molester can be banned from public parks, raising hopes among child advocates that a new Indianapolis ordinance restricting the access of sex abusers can withstand a court challenge.

In its ruling, the three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a decision by a federal court in Hammond that barring Robert E.
Brown from parks did not violate his constitutional rights.
Officials in Michigan City had observed Brown viewing people through binoculars and “driving by very slowly” at a children’s day camp. Although no evidence was presented that he was stalking children, the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Board judged that he posed a threat.
The ACLU of Indiana brought a legal challenge against a resolution banning Brown, arguing his right to due process had been violated. But the 7th Circuit held that, as a practical matter of ensuring public safety, Brown was not “just another patron” of the parks.
“He is a convicted child molester whose frequency of attendance and atypical behavior while in the park justified the concern of those public officials charged with ensuring the safety of members of the public who visit the recreational site,” the judges said.

COURT’S FINDINGS

In upholding a resolution banning a convicted child molester from Michigan City parks, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found:

• There is no fundamental right to access to public parks.

• State law grants municipal parks discretion in setting conditions on public entry.

• Children are susceptible to abuse in parks, and cities have a duty to protect them. Read the rest…

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