2003 Field Season Report · February 2004 17<strong>and</strong> micro-<strong>habitat</strong> variables <strong>and</strong> covariates are be<strong>in</strong>g treated as fixed effects. Prelim<strong>in</strong>aryanalysis <strong>in</strong>dicates that models conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g weather <strong>and</strong> food variables are strongly selectedbased on ∆AIC C values. Analysis <strong>of</strong> covariance parameters <strong>in</strong>dicated that ~20% <strong>of</strong> thevariation between <strong>in</strong>dividual <strong>woodcock</strong> is expla<strong>in</strong>ed by our best ∆AIC C models.Additional analyses are planned for <strong>habitat</strong> <strong>use</strong> <strong>and</strong> selection at both the st<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong>l<strong>and</strong>scape level.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis project was funded by the U.S. Fish <strong>and</strong> Wildlife Service, Region 3; U.S.Geological Survey (Science Support Initiative); Wiscons<strong>in</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> NaturalResources; M<strong>in</strong>nesota Department <strong>of</strong> Natural Resources; Michigan Department <strong>of</strong>Natural Resources; the 2001 Webless Migratory Game Bird Research Program;University <strong>of</strong> Wiscons<strong>in</strong>-Madison; University <strong>of</strong> M<strong>in</strong>nesota-Tw<strong>in</strong> Cities; NorthernMichigan University; the M<strong>in</strong>nesota Cooperative Fish <strong>and</strong> Wildlife Research Unit; theRuffed Gro<strong>use</strong> Society; Wiscons<strong>in</strong> Po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g Dog Association; <strong>and</strong> the North CentralWiscons<strong>in</strong> Chapter <strong>of</strong> the North <strong>American</strong> Versatile Hunt<strong>in</strong>g Dog Association. We thankD.G. McAuley for help<strong>in</strong>g with identify<strong>in</strong>g mist-nett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> night-light<strong>in</strong>g sites <strong>and</strong>suggestions for techniques for h<strong>and</strong>l<strong>in</strong>g <strong>woodcock</strong>. On the M<strong>in</strong>nesota study site, specialthanks are due R. Tuszynski, Cc. Kostrzewski, J. Abel, R. Black, <strong>and</strong> T. Pharis forassistance with various aspects <strong>of</strong> field work. Field technicians <strong>in</strong>cluded E. B<strong>in</strong>seil, A.Rol<strong>and</strong>, D. Plattner, E. Kreitmier, K. Lynch, M. Becker, B. Gill, M. Kuckler, K. Gordon,<strong>and</strong> V. Sepulveda. On the Michigan study site, we thank D.E. Beyer for the MichiganDepartment <strong>of</strong> Natural Resources for coord<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g telemetry flights. We also thank ourfield technicians; J. Blastick, A. Klement, K. Strum, A. Evans, A. F<strong>in</strong>fera, <strong>and</strong> R.
664 HUGHES AND BURCHFIELDDownloaded by [Northern Ill<strong>in</strong>ois University] at 20:01 22 February 2013number <strong>of</strong> all child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders (Musta<strong>in</strong>e et al., 2006b), conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g roughly 30percent <strong>of</strong> the 2,025 <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>in</strong> our sample. With just 30 percent <strong>of</strong> all liv<strong>in</strong>gspace left open to accommodate this many <strong>of</strong> the city’s child sex <strong>of</strong>fender population,it is no surprise that disadvantaged neighborhoods were found to havecomparatively high rates <strong>of</strong> “violators” <strong>and</strong> “violations,” as well as lower me<strong>and</strong>istances between child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> parks, schools, <strong>and</strong> daycares.Together, these f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs suggest that the physical structure <strong>of</strong> communitiesresults <strong>in</strong> un<strong>in</strong>tended consequences <strong>of</strong> sex <strong>of</strong>fender residence restrictions.Although disadvantaged neighborhoods have no shortage <strong>of</strong> parks, schools, <strong>and</strong>daycares, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> this sense do not contradict environmental justice st<strong>and</strong>ards(see also Mladenka, 1980), 23 beca<strong>use</strong> they tend to be relatively small <strong>and</strong>encompass a disproportionate share <strong>of</strong> prohibited sites, the 500-foot rule has amuch greater impact on available residential space for child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>in</strong>these neighborhoods than is the case <strong>in</strong> affluent neighborhoods. The data also<strong>in</strong>dicate, however, that despite legal proscriptions, registered child sex <strong>of</strong>fenderscont<strong>in</strong>ue—more than seven years after the first residence restrictions <strong>and</strong>nearly three years after the most recent—to be concentrated <strong>in</strong> disadvantagedneighborhoods <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> relatively close proximity to prohibited sites. Thus, ratherthan keep<strong>in</strong>g child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders from liv<strong>in</strong>g near children, our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs suggestthat residence restrictions <strong>in</strong> Chicago do little more than superimpose yetanother legal barrier to prisoner reentry, <strong>and</strong> a further burden on the veryneighborhoods <strong>in</strong> which many <strong>of</strong> these <strong>of</strong>fenders, like the vast majority <strong>of</strong>prisoners reenter<strong>in</strong>g society, have no choice but to live.Among the limitations <strong>of</strong> this study, reliance on data from a s<strong>in</strong>gle city isperhaps the most serious. While Chicago’s 500-foot distance requirement isamong the least restrictive <strong>in</strong> the country, quite different f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs may beobta<strong>in</strong>ed elsewhere. This is precisely why further research concern<strong>in</strong>g theenvironmental relationships here exam<strong>in</strong>ed is needed. Future research shouldalso attend to the full range <strong>of</strong> sites protected by law. Although there is limitedevidence to suggest a geographic l<strong>in</strong>k between sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> their victims,our <strong>in</strong>ability to locate victim residence data may be a significant shortcom<strong>in</strong>g.Another potential problem concerns errors <strong>in</strong> the data. Other studies havefound that <strong>in</strong>formation from state sex <strong>of</strong>fender registries <strong>of</strong>ten is <strong>in</strong>accurate <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>complete (Hughes & Kadleck, 2008; Levenson & Cotter, 2005a; Tewksbury,2002, 2005, 2006), <strong>and</strong> we cannot be sure <strong>of</strong> the level <strong>of</strong> error conta<strong>in</strong>ed with<strong>in</strong>the shapefiles <strong>and</strong> daycare data <strong>use</strong>d here, despite multiple checks <strong>and</strong> corrections<strong>of</strong> the data. However, the high rates <strong>of</strong> geocod<strong>in</strong>g accuracy suggest thatthe total amount <strong>of</strong> error <strong>in</strong> these data does not pose a serious threat to thereliability <strong>of</strong> our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs.F<strong>in</strong>ally, our data do not permit direct assessment <strong>of</strong> the effects <strong>of</strong> residencerestrictions on sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> communities. Beca<strong>use</strong> we were not able t<strong>of</strong>ollow child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders over time or dist<strong>in</strong>guish adequately between those23. Note that our analyses cannot speak to environmental justice arguments that focus more on thequality <strong>and</strong> cultural specificity <strong>of</strong> built environments than on basic access (see Frumk<strong>in</strong>, 2005).