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NKU Chase Student to Argue Appeal
Kyle Williamson and Chase Visiting Professor David Singleton, OJPC Director
Kyle Williamson and Chase Visiting Professor David Singleton, OJPC Director

Apr 09, 2009 - On Tuesday, April 7, third-year Chase student Kyle Williamson argued an appeal in the Second District Court of Appeals on behalf of Edward Dion Burge. The sole issue was whether the trial court had jurisdiction to order Burge from his home under Ohio's sex offender residency statute (which at the time prohibited sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of schools; the statute has since been amended to include daycares and preschools). Burge did not appeal the trial court's 2006 injunction requiring him to move. But in 2008 the Ohio Justice & Policy Center (OJPC) won a landmark Ohio Supreme Court case (Hyle v. Porter), which held that Ohio's sex offender residency restriction could not be applied retroactively to individuals who either committed their offenses or established their residences before July 31, 2003, the statute's effective date. In light of Hyle v. Porter, Burge, who committed his offense before July 31, 2003, asked the trial court to vacate the injunction barring him from returning to his home. The trial court refused, however, on the grounds that Burge failed to appeal the 2006 order. Kyle argued that the trial court's injunction is void because the statute does not apply to Mr. Burge and that the fact that Burge did not appeal is irrelevant. The Court of Appeals heard the argument in the Miami County Safety Building.

Kyle argued the case as part of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic (CLC). The CLC gives third and fourth year Chase students the opportunity to handle OJPC cases in federal and state court under the supervision of Chase Visiting Professor David Singleton.