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«««FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—TUESDAY JUNE 20, 2006««« Statement from the Southern Center for Human Rights
Regarding Judge Cooper’s Granting of a The Court's Temporary Restraining Order today did two very important things: it noted that the bus stop provision in HB 1059 is probably unconstitutional, and it recognized that the bus stop provision will have the perverse effect of putting the public in greater danger by making it harder to monitor people who are currently on the registry. The problem with the bus stop provision is that there are people who are trying very hard to comply with all the restrictions and regulations that have been in place since 2003. They have already moved away from schools playgrounds. They are going to treatment. They are reporting to their probation officers. If the bus stop provision is allowed to go into effect, these individuals will be forced out on the street or underground. As of now, the TRO covers only the named plaintiffs. We are asking the Court for a clarification to have the TRO protect everyone on the registry. To ensure that the Constitution protects everyone from an unconstitutional law, not just the named plaintiffs, we are proposing that the Court certify a class of everyone on the registry for the duration of the TRO. Even legislators who voted for HB 1059 have been calling us, now that it’s become clear the new law is going to make us less safe. If the bus stop restriction slipped through because the politicians who passed HB 1059 failed to understand how badly the school bus stop restrictions would compromise public safety, they should be allowed to go back and take out that provision. It they knew how dangerous this law would be and passed it anyway, voters should take note and remove them from office. Since we filed this lawsuit, we have received an outpouring of support from probation officers, treatment providers, and sheriffs’ deputies. These are the people who understand better than anyone that public safety will suffer if the new restrictions are allowed to go into effect on July 1. Among probation officers and sheriffs’ deputies, there is a growing realization that HB 1059 is a sloppily written and counterproductive law. This Court has scheduled a
preliminary injunction hearing on July 11. We are confident this Court will
follow the law and common sense, and turn this TRO into a preliminary
injunction to stop the unnecessary and counterproductive portions of HB 1059
from going into effect. Return to SCHR's Litigation Challenging HB1059: Georgia's Sex Offender Law |