Case Raises the Question: Do Convicted Felons Have More Rights Than New Jersey’s Children?

Galloway, N.J. and ACLJ Appeal Decision to Forbid Town from Regulating Where Convicted Sex Offenders May Live

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2007—Atlantic County is home to beautiful beaches, a pristine wetland habitat, and (as is true of nearly every county in the nation) convicted sex offenders. Atlantic County is also the home of a raging battle over the rights of children vs. the rights of felons.
 
In Superior Court on Feb.  5, Judge Valerie Armstrong issued a ruling that will, in effect, ban Galloway Township from restricting where convicted sex offenders may live. In ruling on the case brought by a convicted child molester, Judge Armstrong said that Galloway's ordinances violated the home rule provisions of the New Jersey Constitution. Armstrong ruled that Galloway does not have jurisdiction to create "buffer zones"-areas where convicted sex offenders would be prevented from living-around child-friendly places such as schools and public parks because the state legislature has already acted in the matter by passing Megan's Law. In her estimation, the local authority's action was preempted by the state's action. 
 
"The decision by Judge Armstrong in G. H. plaintiff vs. Township of Galloway (defendant) is flawed on many levels," said Vincent McCarthy, a senior attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice. "Galloway's ordinances are in general agreement with New Jersey law. To say that the county may not act because the state has acted around similar issues is faulty reasoning," said McCarthy. "The county has a right and a duty to act on behalf of its children if it believes that the state's action is insufficient as long as the municipality's ordinance does not conflict with the state law."
 
The case is being appealed by the Township which is represented by the ACLJ, the nation's top conservative public interest law firm. The appeal was filed on Feb. 20.
 
"The people of New Jersey understand that the rights of innocent children should not be sacrificed to accommodate the desires of convicted sex offenders," said McCarthy. "The children of New Jersey deserve better than Judge Armstrong's ruling. We'll continue the fight to ensure they get it."
 
Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.

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