New bill by Senator Book seeks to suspend licenses of Physicians arrested for sexual crimes.
Like we didn’t see this one coming…
About a month after her children’s pediatrician was accused of a sexual offense, Lauren Book introduced Senate Bill 1934. That bill would immediately suspend the license of a physician charged with a sexual offense.
Under current circumstances, a physician’s license would not be suspended until they were actually convicted. In the case of her childrens’ pediatrician, he was prohibited from coming into contact with children as a condition of his probation anyhow, but Book wants their licenses suspended immediately.
On the surface, this may not seem like a shocking idea and unless any of our members are physicians accused of a sex crime, we’re not going to focus on this Bill, but for those involved in criminal defense and who are fans of the 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments, the presumption of innocence is totally undermined here. The other things to consider are these types of cases often take years to play out and sometimes people are falsely accused and ultimately found not guilty (not saying that’s the case here, but too often even people on death row are ultimately acquitted).
Why not a bill to automatically suspend the license of anyone arrested for dui or dwi? I think we all know where I am going with this one?
Yes Tereto! Excellent.
Or be suspended from public office if you are accused.
So just accuse your doctor and they lose their license, great job
A random statement here. But im so very gratefull for FAC. My charges were from when I was a teenager. I’m now almost 48. And like many others I have had my share of hardships from the registry. I’m glad that there is a place that I can get current information about new laws.
If you don’t think that in itself is worth a little each month to support fac. Consider this. In 2001 I had a technical failure to register and was arrested and didn’t even know I committed a crime. The Florida law machine won’t bother to tell you when they do pass new laws. Had I know back then what I know now. My petition for removal last year would have been approved by a landslide. But it was denied because I broke a registry rule I didn’t even know existed.
So yea. Its worth whatever you can afford to help out.
My sincerest thank you to FAC.
I agree. I am also dealing with a law i didn’t know existed (not even considering the fact I didn’t actually break it). Apparently, the state passed a law in 2014 that restricts where I can work or volunteer. (How do they restrict my freedoms retroactively? Isn’t this EXACTLY what the federal courts are looking at now when they are saying registration laws are now unconstitutional? I used to be on my church council (after I was forced to start registering) … that is now a felony (restriction of religion freedom?). I used to mow the grass at my church… now a felony. I used to perform in theater… also now a felony. ) They have my butt in there 4 times per year and they don’t even bother to tell me about this new law. I also have a court order against public and community notification. Well, a parent at one of my children’s extra curricular activities was a LEO and did background checks on all the fathers of the kids. This was done of their own accord (at no one’s askance or direction). They then notified all the parents of my situation (violating the court order) and lobbied to have me and my child removed from the team. They were unsuccessful for a little better than a year because most of the parents were friends. All of the sudden, I am arrested for volunteering. I promise you I did NONE of this volunteering since this law was passed and I can prove it (still have a public defender though, so a bit nervous). The point is, the only reason I am not truly guilty is pure luck that I had not volunteered anywhere in the last several years. I had NO idea of this law. I even wrote F.A.C. who responded that they didn’t believe I had committed any crimes even if I did volunteer. This is the result of the registry, vigilantism.
There should be NO EXCUSE for them not to notify us. There should be a burden on them to do so. Mainly because: 1. they change or add these laws so frequently 2. these laws only apply to an extremely small part of the population of the state and 3. they already force us to present ourselves in person multiple times per year and this notice would would realistically incur zero extra burden on the state. The real reason they don’t tell us can be summed up by Admiral Ackbar: “It’s a trap! “
Jim, you wrote: “Well, a parent at one of my children’s extra curricular activities was a LEO and did background checks on all the fathers of the kids.” If the father/cop used NCIC/FCIC (National Crime Information Center/Florida Crime Information Center) to do the background checks on parents in the manner you described, then he probably committed a felony because using those LE resources for personal gain or use is illegal under both federal and Florida laws. Also, you have the right to know what resources he used to do the background check. So go file a complaint at his department and have it investigated and disclosed. Or you can contact FDLE’S Police Standards and Training Commision directly to have the matter investigated.
Bill
Even though I was a cop before there was the internet, I use to see lots of officers do background checks on their daughter’s boyfriends, look for dirt on their buddies exes and many other shady practices. It goes on a lot more than you think.
And now with all the technology we have, yeah, there is a ton of crimes being committed by law enforcement. But in the “Rules only apply to you” culture, what can you do? Yes you can complain, (And I would as well) but expect some blow back from his/her cop buddies.
I know from experience how they stick together and lie. One of the long list of reasons I resigned. It is like a sub culture all of its own.
Book family doesn’t understand due process, unless it applies to them and only them. I am sure that the Legal Committee or Rules Committee will advise her of trying to pass an emotionally but not legally driven bill (again) … or will they?
This is pure retaliation because her own pediatrician got charged with a sex offense. The is one very vindictive person.
Guilty until proven innocent. I think this is already how it is. This bill just makes it more extreme. Those charged with a sex crime are the least likely to be given a bond. Why? Because we are already guilty on the eyes of most judges just by the accusation. The public is no better.
I agree with the sentiment below, that a DWI accusation should cause an automatic suspension of your license. But that law would need to reference this currently propsed law so that when people balk at the DWI suspension they can see that it’s just as ludicrous as this proposed law from Book. (She is so venemous that i don’t even like capitalizing her name, let alone give any credence or respect to her title).
A small correction, Jim. With sex crime accusations, a person is considered guilty until proven guilty. Was that too cynical?
And yet a corrupt politician like say, a certain blonde state senator whose last name rhymes with Crook, can make false allegations and not suspended for her blatant abuse of the law.
Not to mention that she is taking a personal event and using it to try to pass legislation. Last time I checked, she was a representative. The Florida Congress is not her personal rule making playground.
So there’s a state law restricting volunteering at church?
That’s what it says below. FAC Legal/ anyone know more about this?
There is none.
… places where children congregate.
Jim
Children congregate at Walmart, at the waiting room of the doctors office etc. Unless you are on probation, and have a charge involving minors, the cops can pack sand.
As a matter of fact, they can pack sand anyway. I say that with the utmost of disrespect, as a former cop. I can name maybe three honest people in the force that I would have trusted and I worked at a large metro department. So 3 people out of 1000s, that is sad.
I agree. Cops can charge you (thereby eliminating your ability to be removed from the registry) and then use b.s. to try and support their arguement. In my case they were aghast that i supervised my daughter while selling girl scout cookies. They didn’t acknowledge my daughter, they just said I was selling them. I wasn’t charged with this, but this was reported to the news and used to try and get my bail denied. It’s all about people wanting you gone because they have decided without any evidence you are going to do something bad. A lucky break was that one of the moms on my side is an attorney. She has twins. She was contacted to try and get her to say something incriminating about me. When she asked why, she was told they were trying to get me arrested. She contacted me after i bonded out. The p.d.’s office still hasn’t contacted her (over a year now) but she is ready and she is an officer of the court.
Point is, when i was on probation, church was one of the places i was restricted from going because of children. Do you really think that they won’t arrest you claiming that there is a Sunday school, vacation bible school, nursery, or ANY children’s activity on the grounds? You already know how some of these officers/ departments are.
I kinda thought FAC would be interested enough in the retroactive elimination of my personal freedoms to work or volunteer where i choose to include this arguement in the ex post fact suit.
Jim
The bottom line is, they DO want us off the registry. Yes you heard that right. In Exchange for being off the registry, they want us OFF to prison for life.
I have been harassed so many times by law enforcement it isn’t even funny. Most of the time when I start talking LEO Talk (Law Enforcement Officer) they back off knowing I also have a criminal justice degree and know my rights. I show them my graduate card.
Having said there, there are a few occasions where I was held for hours in the hot sun while they went back and forth with the dispacthers trying to get FDLE to ok an arrest because I was in a park or other public place.
One time I was walking a dog for a neighbor in a nearby park with my grand daughter. She doesn’t live with me so one of the neighbors thought I had kidnapped the girl and called 911. The cops arrived and detained me. My grand daughter was crying hysterically and I didn’t have my heart medication with me. I asked for an ambulance and they never did come.
Only after I demanded to have a Watch commander on scene did they release me. I was told “verbally” not to return to the park or I would be arrested for trespassing after warning. ????
You don’t come off the registry when you go to prison.
F.A.C
Re-read my comment until it sets in. Do you really think I am stupid? I never once said going to prison gets you off the registry. I was making a point that prison overrides the registry. If you are sent away for life, the registry is useless.
We all know that even death doesn’t remove you from the registry.
Not aware of any FL registrant arrested for church presence, unless they had been trespassed or probation conditions disallowed it. And we haven’t been bringing challenges against probation conditions.
This is a double edged sword. When one person on the registry goes to petition to get off the registry, little notice is taken and most could care less. When we do the class actions and the threat of their precious registry being found unconstitutional, that is when we get major push back.
So am I saying we should stop? Of course not. I am just explaining the question so many have, of why they seem to be coming after us so hard lately. There have been some big wins in different states and it is scaring the living Hell out of the pro registry groups, law makers, law enforcement and politicians.
Also, even though there is a registry, I had pretty much been left alone. That is until Nextdoor came out. Then we found out we all were banned from using it. We seem to be “Banned” from a lot of things. Is not a ban on something pretty much the same thing as a punishment?
When I was a kid and did something wrong , my Dad would tell me ” Here is your punishment, you are banned from watching tv, hanging out with your friends and you have to come straight home from school”. My Dad did NOT invent that. If you are Banned from a night club for acting up, it is a form of punishment, EVEN if you deserve the punishment. It is what it is.
If you call a dog a canine, is it not still a dog just by a different moniker? Funny how the courts continue to twist and tweek the rules in their favor, which to all of us is a legal disservice to justice.
The next step in this story is taking action. The contact information for the station is:
https://nebraska.tv/station/contact
I can personally tell you the news director will be surprised that people are ‘respectfully’ contacting them to share their view of the story and the equivalent of fear-mongering when empirical research data indicates:
A study reviewing sex crimes as reported to police revealed that:
a) 93% of child sexual abuse victims knew their abuser;
b) 34.2% were family members;
c) 58.7% were acquaintances;
d) Only 7% of the perpetrators of child victims were strangers;
e) 40% of sexual assaults take place in the victim’s own home;
f) 20% take place in the home of a friend, neighbor or relative (Jill Levenson, PhD, Lynn University)
So just being accused means a long time in the legal system. Without being able to work in the only field they know, the person cannot afford legal counsel since the physician will still have to pay for his office and medical equipment and malpractice insurance. “Innocent until proven guilty?” Who believes that?