The Sex Offender Housing Dilemma by Monica Williams

Author:Monica Williams [Williams, Monica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology, Penology
ISBN: 9781479841097
Google: dsI4DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: 2018-05-08T05:25:12+00:00

Grassroots and Political Protests

Two kinds of protests emerged after the SVP’s arrival: grassroots protests, including picketing and petitions, and a more formal protest organized by the mayor. Grassroots protests began immediately. For about a week, neighbors stood on the sidewalk in front of the SVP’s home, handing out flyers to passing motorists and holding signs. Protesters participated as their schedules allowed, and at any given time the group fluctuated from two to a dozen people. The protesters mainly wanted to disseminate information about the SVP’s presence. For instance, late one morning, I found four of them standing on the sidewalk in front of the SVP’s house. One man, the son-in-law of the elderly woman who lived next door, hailed passing motorists to hand out copies of the police-issued notification flyer. As cars passed, he yelled, “Sexual predator in our neighborhood!” His two teenage nieces followed his lead, shouting “Sexual predator!” at the passing cars. Cardboard signs reinforced the information-dissemination goal, with two signs reading, “The man who lives here likes to rape elderly women.”

In addition to getting the word out, community members wanted to change the placement decision. After word began to spread that the landlord worked for a state agency and lived in a nearby wealthy neighborhood, some residents began to target him in their opposition efforts. One afternoon, I stood with Miguel at the neighborhood school during afternoon pickup while he tried to garner support for a petition to the landlord. The petition noted residents’ dissatisfaction with the placement and asked the landlord to reconsider the rental agreement. He approached cars, explained the petition, and then asked parents to sign. Most readily added their names. When traffic died down, I accompanied Miguel and the school principal as they delivered a copy of the petition with more than four hundred signatures to the landlord’s home.

The landlord’s neighborhood represented a stark contrast to East City: million-dollar homes sat on large lots with neatly manicured lawns. A ring of the bell at the gate produced no answer, so Miguel left the petition in the mailbox. As we drove back to East City, Miguel and the school principal discussed their next steps, including a lawsuit and possible protests in front of the landlord’s home. The principal asked Miguel on what grounds he could bring a lawsuit. “I’ll find something,” he replied. He went on to explain that even the threat of a lawsuit would probably be enough to get the landlord to agree to residents’ demands. While Miguel had some doubt that the placement could be challenged on legal merit, he also believed that litigation could serve as a tool for opposition regardless of the outcome. Miguel may have been right; research on litigation as a strategy for collective action has shown that lawsuits can garner support for a cause and serve as a bargaining chip for future collective action against opponents.4 Litigation may have been an effective strategy for opposing the SVP placement, but Miguel remarked that community members would never act without an “instigator.

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