That Didn't Take Long

A couple of weeks back, I wrote that a new law in Des Moines, which may be imitated throughout Iowa, threatened to make it impossible for sex offenders to find a place to live. Many states and localities are passing laws banning sex offenders from living within 1,000 to 2,000 feet of a school, park or other place children are likely to gather. Although certainly well-intentioned, these laws may leave sex offenders with nowhere to go.

Now a 47-year-old Des Moines man, convicted of second-degree sex abuse in 1988, has turned himself in to his probation officer because there is nowhere in the city for him to live without violating the new restrictions. He and other violators of the no-live zones, for whom the police have issued arrest warrants, face two-year sentences for their violations.

A buffer area between sex offenders and kids is an idea with obvious appeal. But if, in practice, it's going to result in extended sentences for offenders, there's a larger policy debate that needs to take place.