New Jersey Court Bars Towns from Moving Sex Offenders

(Editor's note: The following is from a bulletin from the National Apartment Association.)

New Jersey towns cannot prohibit convicted sex offenders from living near places such as schools, playgrounds and day care centers, a state appeals court ruled recently. In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel said Megan's Law is the exclusive law governing the treatment of sex offenders.

The court further stated municipal ordinances restricting where they can live "interfere with and frustrate" statewide efforts to monitor offenders and reintegrate them into society.