So about an hour ago I left my apartment to check the mail. I noticed a flier attached to my door. It stated the following: Dear Residents, We have recently been informed that one of our residents/occupants has been convicted or given deferred adjudication for a sex-related crime or other crime of violence. We have asked the person to immediately vacate. If the person in question will not voluntarily agree to vacate in the next 24-hours, we will be filing an eviction lawsuit. Until the person in question is evicted, we recommend that you be especially cautious. Let me preface that, yes I am very happy about this decision. Why? Well frankly I have no personal worries of getting into harms way, but there are plenty of single women that live around here. Plus, my 21-year old baby sister sometimes comes by to visit when she's bored at night, and I would feel uncomfortable with her driving around my apartment complex late at night. Having said that, I have to wonder about the rights of this person. Does the person not have the right to rent an apartment? I know that in subdivisions, if such a person buys a house, fliers are handed out telling the neighbors that a sex offender has moved into the neighborhood. But they have the right to live there. What about this monster? If he can't afford a house, where can he live? Now, I'm in no way defending him, but I'm just curious...
Not to defend any "criminal" sex offender, but there are some guys who are registered as sex offenders for consensual statutory rape. Their crime being that they were 18 and their girlfriend was 16. Consensual? Yes. Illegal? Technically, yes. Criminal? Technically, yes. Should they be stigmatized till eternity? Debatable. You can't necessarily assume a "registered sex offender" is some drooly-mouthed serial rapist out to molest your daughters. I'm not sure, but I don't think the law distinguishes this type of "sex offender" from someone like a serial rapist who has done his time.
That’s the dilemma. If a person has done their time, for any crime, they should be a free member of society with the same rights as anybody else, right? I wonder if this guy would have a case against the management of your building because of that notice, because it would certainly seem to be an infringement on his rights. If people aren’t treated equally, how are they ever going to fit in again? If they conclude that there is no place of them amongst normal people on the outside, then they stand a pretty good chance of drifting into circles that could well get them into more trouble. OTOH, many sex offenders in particular seem to re-offend. I haven’t dug up any stats on this so I’m just speaking from my impression, but I think that’s the impression of many member of the general public as well. So, should sentences for sex offenders be longer? Or, should parole conditions be stricter? For example, should they be required to be in by 9:00 and/or be monitored by ankle braclets? Should there be better programs for monitoring and reintegrating these people into society? Since this situation applies to you personally, what conditions would make you feel safe and would make you feel that your building is safe, while still allowing the guy to live there?
That is tough, because it seems unfair to the convicted felon. The safety of women is important as well. Their has been statisics showing that rapist have committed the same crime once out of jail. What do you do?
I was watching a speacial on t.v. and it shown convicted rapist who have severed their time in prison with the ankle braclets. When the ex-felon goes near a school, a light will blink at the police station I beleive. It showed that these ex-criminals have been in their restricted areas several times, and nothing was done.
personally, i think the guy has a right to live in any apartment complex he chooses. If he's done the state required punishment and allowed back on the streets, than he should be free to attempt to continue his life... resistance from society could lead him to become upset and go back down a wayward path ("if living right still gets me this much hassle, what's the point" kind of thinking) of course, i think the rest of us deserve the courtesy of a note. i remember when a convicted sex offender bought a house 15 miles from my apartment complex, we all got notes about the fact. I think this is suffice. While I like the decision of the apartment complex for my own selfish reasons (that i stated in m original post), i still think the guy has the right to live here. I'd just be more careful about my whereabouts if i was a woman now. Plus, I'll definetely tell my sister about the fact and always escort her too and from her car at nights.
I had a friend that was in that exact same situation. The girl was 2 years younger than him. They were actually together since he was 16. They had sex after his 18th birthday, and then broke up just before his 19th birthday (she was 16 at the time). The girl was upset that he broke up with her, and told her mom that they had sex. Mom reported him to police, and he severed a few months. From that day on he has register himself as a sex offender. I would say though these type of cases are in the minority when it comes to sex offenders. As for the guy being kicked out of his apartment, it sucks and I don't know exactly what his rights are but I don't blame the complex managers/owners for wanting him out.
That reminds me of a quote - The Dude: ****in' Quintana... that creep can roll, man. Walter Sobchak: Yeah, but he's a pervert, Dude. The Dude: Yeah. Walter Sobchak: No, he's a sex offender. With a record. He served 6 months in Chino for exposing himself to an eight year old. The Dude: Oh! Walter Sobchak: When he moved to Hollywood he had to go door to door to tell everyone he was a pederass. Donny: What's a... pederass, Walter? Walter Sobchak: Shut the **** up, Donny.
I went back over my original apartment lease from last year. It is a standard Texas apartment lease. It states the following: We may exclude from the apartment community guests or others who, <b>in our judgment</b>, have been violating the law, violating this Lease Contract or any apartment rules, or disturbing other residents, neighbors, visitors, or owner representatives. We may also exclude from any outside area or common area a person who refuses to show photo identification or refuses to identify himself or herself as a resident, occupant, or guest of a specific resident in the community. that bolded part is what makes this interesting.
I agree, but according to the letter, the person hasn't done any time yet. At least that's the way I read it.
drapg, I don't see how he violates that clause of the lease. I think all the sex crime laws suck and are unconstitutional and should be repealed. I'm not against punishing sex crimes -- in fact, I wish punishments were more harsh. But, registering people as sex offenders for crimes they have already served their punishment for is just wrong. They essentially are being punished twice and without the judicial review that they should be guaranteed. Sex criminals tend to be more recitivist (sp?) than other criminals. However, I don't think that is sufficient justification for the registry. Under this logic, you punish the person for a crime he may potentially commit in the future.
well, well, this story just took a new twist. you know how i said i came across the notice on my door when I went to check the mail? well, I just now sifted through the mail and found the following: a post card sized notice from the Texas Dept. of Public Safety. It is a "Notice of High Risk Sex Offender in Community." The notice contains a picture of the man, his name, sex, race, date fo birth, height, weight, hair color, eye color, aliases, and address. everyone in the complex knows his apartment number, and well he lives a few buildings down from me. the notice also includes his registartion date, date of conviction, and offense, and probation sentence length. he is categorized as a "high level risk"
the part "in our judgement" is what foggies the decision. Its up to the apartment complex, they have the rights to do as they please. since this guy had to sign the lease to live here, he decided to live by those terms.
I would say that is fair considering he's a "high level risk". After all, do we want to protect the innocent or the condemed?
I have to agree with your apartments on that one... People should be able to have this info... howver can they evict him???? That doesn't seem right, where would he live? Not that I care, but I'm just thinking out loud.....
well, I'm going to assume it's the same case as drapg's since his notice letter text is the exact same, plus the same TX DPS mail notice, plus the same day according to the DPS notice, the offense is "INDECENT EXPOSURE, SECOND CONVICTION". the risk level is classified as "H", although I have no idea if that actually means high risk
