Sex Offender Premises Restrictions Revised in Response to Doe v. Cooper

The General Assembly amended G.S. 14-208.18, the law that makes it a Class H felony for certain registered sex offenders to go certain places. The changes are a response to Doe v. Cooper, a federal case in which the trial judge enjoined every district attorney in the state from enforcing the parts of the law he found to be unconstitutional. Today’s post takes a look at the revised law. As a reminder, the prior version of G.S. 14-208.18 set out three types of places that certain registered sex offenders may not go. Those types of places were described in three statutory subdivisions, (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3), which said that covered offenders could not knowingly be: (a)(1) On the premises of any place intended primarily for the use, care, or supervision of minors, including, but not limited to, schools, children’s museums, child care centers, nurseries, and playgrounds. (a)(2) Within 300 feet of any location intended primarily for the use, care, or supervision of minors when the place is located on premises that are not intended primarily for the use, care, or supervision of minors, including, but not limited to, places described in subdivision (1) of this subsection that are located in malls, shopping centers, or other property open to the general public. (a)(3) At any place where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational, or social programs. The law applied to two categories of sex offenders: Article 7B offenders: Those convicted of any offense in Article 7B of Chapter 14 (rapes, sexual [...]