Adelanto sued over sex offender residency rules

1-14-17 California

The city's 2006 ordinance, according to the suit, restricts sex offenders from living within a 2,000-foot radius of any child day care center, public park, school, bus stop or transit stop.

ADELANTO - A federal lawsuit challenges the city's residency restrictions for registered sex offenders, concluding that the local ordinance's exclusion zones "cover virtually all residential property within the city" and are more stringent than rules by similar municipalities.

Filed Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court by Sacramento-based attorney Janice Bellucci, the lawsuit claims Adelanto's local law violates the 14th Amendment, which ensures due process and equal protection of law, and is unconstitutionally vague.

The suit was filed on behalf of Kirk Clymer, a sex offender who "resides in geographic proximity to the City of Adelanto and is in search of a permanent residence."

Adelanto spokesman Michael Stevens said the city could not comment on litigation matters.

The city's 2006 ordinance, according to the suit, restricts sex offenders from living within a 2,000-foot radius of any child day care center, public park, school, bus stop or transit stop. Its effect, Bellucci said, is amplified because the city's inhabited areas are highly concentrated in comparison to its borders.

The ordinance's restrictions are an "arbitrary, politically motivated act imposed by a local government in response to popular sentiments," the lawsuit reads, "based upon misinformation, which seeks retribution against Registrants who constitute a socially outcast minority." ..Continued.. by Shea Johnson