Council passes resolution to limit sex offenders in shelters

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - Cranston City Council has passed a resolution aimed at regulating facilities where convicted sex offenders live.

WPRI-TV reports (https://bit.ly/1kRgYQg ) the city wants to limit the number of sex offenders allowed to go to Harrington Hall, a local homeless shelter. The resolution calls on the General Assembly to make it a law.

Councilman Michael Favicchio said Monday that a new law enacted this year prohibited Level 3 sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school.

A federal judge blocked the law until January after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against it, calling it unconstitutionally vague.

Favicchio says Harrington Hall is the only shelter in the state accepting offenders that isn’t within 1,000 feet of a school, causing an increase in offenders living there.

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Information from: WPRI-TV, https://www.wpri.com