Judge to Rule on Park Ban Ordinance

By NIna Settappa

Judge to Rule on Park Ban Ordinance

June 18, 2010 Updated Aug 27, 2008 at 6:23 AM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A convicted sex offender in Jeffersonville wants to watch his son play baseball in a city park.

Thirty-six-year-old Eric Dowdell is challenging a city sex offender law that bans him from the park, and a judge is expected to make a ruling next month.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties union says the law is unconsititutional. But the attorney who wrote Jeffersonville's sex offender ordinance says that use of parks is not a fundamental right and constitutional protections don't apply.

Dowdell has twice been denied exemptions from the ordinance. According to court records, Dowdell was put on the state sex-offender registry after admitting that he engaged in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl when he was 21.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)




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