Ryals v City of Englewood and HERE
UPDATE 8-27-13: Englewood to appeal sexual offender decision
Update 1-25-16: CO Sup Ct Decision on Appeal Not Good
(UPDATE: 2014: Residency law reinstated with different distances. See way below)
This case was tried to the Court from July 22 to 25, 2013. Plaintiff Stephen Brett Ryals challenges the constitutionality of the City of Englewood’s Ordinance 34, which restricts where certain sex offenders—including Mr. Ryals—may reside. Mr. Ryals brings five claims under three theories, arguing that the ordinance
- (1) is preempted by state sex offender regulations,
- (2) retroactively and punitively changes the legal consequences of his original conviction, and
- (3) deprives him of his liberty without due process of law.
... ... ...
Order
For the foregoing reasons, the Court directs that final judgment be entered in favor of the plaintiff, Stephen Ryals, and against the defendant, the City of Englewood. As the prevailing party, the plaintiff is awarded his reasonable costs pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 54.1.
DATED this 21th day of August, 2013.
Order on Attorney's Fees and Costs (June 2014)
Plaintiff moves for an award of attorney's fees and certain costs not previously assessed. The parties have submitted several affidavits in support of their respective positions and have not requested an evidentiary hearing or oral argument. For the reasons set forth herein, the Court awards attorney's fees (to Plaintiff RSO) in the amount of $429,999.50 and additional costs in the amount of $16,618.13.
Englewood’s Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Ruled Unconstitutional (Aug 2013)
DENVER – In a case brought by ACLU attorneys, a federal district court yesterday invalidated an Englewood ordinance that restricts where persons convicted of certain sex offenses can live, ruling that the ordinance violates the Colorado Constitution.
Englewood’s ordinance makes it a crime for persons convicted of certain sex offenses to live within 2000 feet of any school, park, or playground, or 1000 feet of any licensed day care center, recreation center or swimming pool, or any property located next to a bus stop, walk-to-school route, or recreational trail.
Judge R. Brooke Jackson ruled that the ordinance “leaves essentially no place for offenders to live” and pushes sex offenders into neighboring cities, causing an impermissible conflict with “the state interest in the uniform treatment, management, rehabilitation, and reintegration of sex offenders during and after state supervision.”
“Local ordinances that ban sex offenders from living in a particular community provide a false sense of security,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. “As the State Sex Offender Management Board has noted, these ordinances don’t prevent sex offenses and they don’t increase safety. Instead, they make communities less safe by interfering with offenders’ efforts to reintegrate into safe, stable, and supportive environments. And when town after town enacts similar restrictions, it poses the risk that sex offenders are driven underground and disconnected from treatment and supervision.”
