Albany Times Union: Top Court Kos Local Residency Laws

The state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that state law restricting the residency of registered sex offenders supersedes local and county laws. The Court of Appeals struck down the law in Nassau County. At least 117 other municipalities across New York — including Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties — had passed similar laws designed keep offenders certain distances from schools, parks, playgrounds, day care centers and other places where children are likely to be. The court’s 5-0 decision was a victory for Albany attorney Kathy Manley of Kindlon Shanks & Associates, who made her case on behalf of Michael Diack, a Level 1, or lowest-risk, sex offender who was charged with a violating a 2006 residency restriction law in Nassau County when he did not relocate from within 1,000 feet of a school in 2010.

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