ATLANTA - A convicted sex offender from Hall County is the latest to take a strict new Georgia law governing where they can live to court.
William James Santos was kicked out of a Gainesville homeless shelter two years ago, but was soon arrested on charges he failed to register with Georgia's sex offender list.
His lawyers say the law creates a guessing game for people like Santos because it bars them from giving a post office box or simply saying they are homeless.
Prosecutors warn that allowing offenders to mark themselves as homeless risks defeating the purpose of the measure.
Georgia's Supreme Court is considering whether the law unfairly subjects homeless offenders to a life sentence if they fail register a home address.
The Santos challenge is among a growing number of cases targeting Georgia's sex offender law, which sponsors declared one of the toughest in the nation when it was adopted in 2006.
The law is designed to keep sex offenders away from children by monitoring how close they live to schools, parks and other spots where kids gather and threatens them with strict penalties if they fail to register.
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Posted: Tuesday, July 8th 2008 at 9:18am
