Judge to rule on park ban ordinance

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. Thirty-six-year-old Eric Dowdell is challenging a city sex offender law that bans him from the park, and a judge is expected to make a ruling next month.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties union says the law is unconsititutional. But the attorney who wrote Jeffersonville's sex offender ordinance says that use of parks is not a fundamental right and constitutional protections don't apply.

Dowdell has twice been denied exemptions from the ordinance. According to court records, Dowdell was put on the state sex-offender registry after admitting that he engaged in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl when he was 21.