ACLU challenges sex-offender ordinance

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington has challenged a new Issaquah ordinance that tightly restricts where sex offenders may live, calling it inconsistent with state law and unlikely to improve public safety.

The national civil-rights advocacy group filed suit in King County Superior Court yesterday on behalf of Level 3 sex offender Kyle Lewis, 28, and his mother, Mary Lou Lewis.

The ordinance, the suit claims, wrongfully imposes additional punishment on individuals who already have been punished under state law.

"Laws that make it virtually impossible for sex offenders to find housing do not make us safer. Society is not safer if former offenders live on the street," ACLU of Washington executive director Kathleen Taylor said in a news release.

The ordinance is the first of its kind in Washington, and it is being studied by other municipalities. It goes further than a new state law that restricts offenders convicted of specific sex crimes against children — and who are still under supervision of the state Department of Corrections — from living within 880 feet of school grounds.

That, along with a grievance from Kyle Lewis, prompted the ACLU to act, said spokesman Doug Honig.

"It's possible that other cities would start passing laws like this, and we think clearly this is an area that the state controls, in terms of setting punishments for sex offenders," Honig said.

The group wants an injunction that would bar enforcement of the ordinance, which was to take effect today. The ordinance restricts Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders — considered to have a moderate and high risk, respectively, of reoffending — from living within 1,000 feet of schools and day-care facilities.

The City Council adopted it Aug. 15, after residents protested the move of Lewis and Level 2 sex offender John Weber into Lewis' mother's home in the Squak Mountain neighborhood in June.

The law effectively limits sex offenders to living on about 15 percent of the city's developable land, mostly in office and commercial zones. Property owners who rent or lease to sex offenders in restricted areas — including Lewis' mother — could face gross misdemeanor charges and penalties of $250 a day up to $5,000.

Under the ordinance, Lewis, who spent five years behind bars after being convicted of first-degree child molestation, and two other sex offenders had until today to move.

City Attorney Wayne Tanaka said Issaquah won't enforce the ordinance until at least Wednesday, after he has had a chance to brief the City Council following the holiday weekend.

"We're going to defend the ordinance, because we believe the ordinance is valid," Tanaka said.

Tanaka said more than a dozen other states have passed laws similar to Issaquah's ordinance. In Ohio and Iowa, those laws have survived legal challenges, he said.

Honig said those two laws differ from Issaquah's ordinance. In the case of Iowa, for instance, a grandfather clause allowed sex offenders already settled to remain in their homes, he said.

Neither Kyle Lewis nor his mother could be reached for comment yesterday.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com