News & Events

For media inquiries and other press-related questions, please contact the NAAG Press Center at (202) 326-6027.

Press Room

State News Headlines

December 11, 2006

The following headlines are compiled as an internal service for state Attorney General offices only. This list is not exhaustive and is a snapshot of news from around the country compiled through the use of various search engines.

Anti-sex-offender zoning laws challenged

A major push to crack down on sex offenders in recent years may be backfiring in states where progressively strict housing rules are coming under court challenge and making it harder for law enforcement to track those convicted of rape, child molesting and similar crimes. Laws in at least a half dozen states, including California, Georgia and Iowa, barring sex offenders from living near schools and parks are being challenged by ex-offenders who claim the laws unconstitutionally penalize them after they have served their time. Such laws also are raising alarms among law enforcers, who fear sexual predators will be harder to track because they have no place to live. Full Article

New Law Kindles New Debate on Protecting Children

DANBURY joined a growing movement across the country last week when it passed a law banning registered sex offenders from setting foot in parks or recreation areas within the city. Officials say that it is the first law of its kind in Connecticut and that other municipalities are likely to follow. But opponents say the laws do little to prevent sexual abuse and have faced stiff legal challenges elsewhere…The state attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, said that laws like Danbury’s were worth defending. Full Article

Study: Fewer inmates on death row in '05

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer prison inmates were moved to death row in 2005, according to a federal study that shows one more person was executed than in the year before. Four states — California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania — held half of the 3,254 inmates awaiting execution at the end of 2005, the study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed. There were 37 death row inmates in federal prisons at that time.

Sixteen states executed 60 prisoners last year, one more inmate than in 2004 Overall, however, the number of inmates on death row on Dec. 31, 2005, or the number of inmates moved there during the year dipped. Full Article

Leslie R. Kershaw
Communications Assistant
Office: (202) 326-6027
Fax: (202) 408-8061
Email: lnelson@naag.org

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