Legally held in jail? Some attorneys question holding homeless sex offenders after release

This appears to violate the Wisconsin Supreme court decision in State v. William Dinkins, Sr.

2-17-2014 Wisconsin:

RACINE COUNTY — Nearly a month after Roger Clawson was supposed to be free, he is still in jail.

The issue is Clawson, a registered sex offender, has nowhere to live because of new sex offender ordinances. As a result, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has put a hold on him requiring him to report to the County Jail nightly.

The statewide practice of holding homeless sex offenders in jail is something that some attorneys question the legality of, while others say it’s understandable.

As of Friday, Clawson had no idea when he will be able to live elsewhere, and DOC spokeswoman Joy Staab said in an email Thursday, “The offender will remain staying in the jail at night until he finds an approved residence within the county of his conviction.”

There are legal grounds for placing a hold on offenders if they cannot meet conditions of their release, such as finding housing in compliance with city laws, said Cecelia Klingele, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor, who has researched the collateral consequences of sex offenders’ sentences.

But she said, “This raises serious questions about due process, when individuals are being confined not because they are unwilling to comply with the law, but as a result of poverty or other circumstances beyond their control.”

Freed, but still in jail: New limits on sex offenders leave them in care of sheriff

This appears to violate the Wisconsin Supreme court decision in State v. William Dinkins, Sr.

2-9-2014 Wisconsin:

RACINE — Roger Clawson is supposed to be free. He’s not.

Clawson, a convicted sex offender, served his time and was supposed to be released from the New Lisbon Correctional Institution on Jan. 28. He was released on schedule, but his release was not to freedom. It was to the Racine County Jail. There was nowhere else for him to go.

“It was a rather depressing situation,” he said about finding out the jail was his only housing option. “All I wanted was a place to live.”

Municipal ordinances have become so restrictive on where registered sex offenders like Clawson can live in the county that state officials have directed the jail to hold him. It’s not clear how or when he’ll get out.

This is a new problem resulting from recent sex offender ordinances and it’s concerning, said Lt. Dan Adams of the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

No options

In early January, Clawson, 59, was planning on moving into a transitional residence in the 2100 block of Racine Street in Mount Pleasant. Then those plans changed when the Mount Pleasant Village Board passed an ordinance Jan. 13 greatly restricting where sex offenders can live. That ordinance came on the heels of similar ordinances passed in Racine, Sturtevant and Caledonia.