Milwaukee City Council holds off on measure to lower sex offender restrictions

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The Milwaukee City Council voted to hold off on a measure that would loosen restrictions on sex offenders in the city Monday.

The proposal would reduce the area sex offenders need to live from schools and parks from 2,000 feet to 500 feet, and council voted unanimously to push the vote to the next council session.

Several aldermen said change in the current law is almost certainly necessary because the city faces potential lawsuits from sex offenders that claim it is unconstitutional.

A US District Court Judge ruled a similar law in another Wisconsin city to be unconstitutional earlier this year.

But council members like Alderwoman Chantia Lewis are worried other cities won't change there laws,leading to an influx of sex offenders in Milwaukee.

"I would love to see a commitment from the surrounding counties, because over 1000 people being placed in Milwaukee, and you know ten here and 20 here and maybe 100 there in the surrounding counties, that's not equitable," Lewis said. "So I think we need to hold this and see if we can make this map work a little bit better for Milwaukee."

Another major concern is that the new buffer zone would place a disproportionate amount of sex offenders in Milwaukee's north and south side.

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