False advertising

Just in case you might still think that laws restricting sex offender residency are a good idea, take a look at this article's title: Registered Sex Offenders may still be moving into "predator-free" zones.

"Predator-free zones?" There is BIG trouble waiting to happen in this dangerously sloppy thinking. Given that half the sex offense convictions handed down are first-time convictions (the crimes were committed by never-convicted sex offenders), this is rather akin to removing only half the mines from a minefield and then declaring it a "mine-free field" and a safe place to play.

What had I said about people who move into pricey communities whose covenants prohibit registered convicted sex offenders letting their guard down? You've got it right here. They think they're in "predator-free" zones and will continue to do so -- until the day they learn the awful truth.

But there's more:

GRAND RAPIDS -- People in a northeast Grand Rapids neighborhood discovered the unlawful move. A registered sex-offender had moved in to a Travis NE address a month after a law took effect that was supposed to keep him out. ...

In this case they found a registered convicted sex offender. But as earlier articles posted here note, these laws are creating a dramatic increase in the numbers of unregistered convicted sex offenders who decide it's become way too difficult to live lawfully and go underground.