Member Submissions
For many of our members, life feels hopeless on the registry and rightly so, but some of our members have survival tips that they would like to share with others. These tips will possibly be of no help to some members, but for the sake of those who could benefit from reading how others have been able to improve their situation, even if only in a small way, please be patient as members share what successes they have been able to achieve while on this insane, punitive registry.
Please send additional successes or survival tips to be posted to media@floridaactioncommittee.org.
SUBMISSION #1
With regards to having successes, I’ve had a few.
-Law enforcement. I basically take the approach that if I make life easy for them – they’ll make life easy for me. I treat them with respect and courtesy at all times and ask questions and take any steps necessary to prevent alarms or them having to do extra work. My thought is that law enforcement and I have the exact same goal – Do not violate probation/registration. If there is even a 1% chance of violation – then ask. Don’t ever assume.
-I did a lot of research and learned how to start my own business. It’s harder work but at least I didn’t have to worry about doing a background check.
SUBMISSION #2
I am a registered sex offender and have been on the registry since 2013. I have been off probation for 3 years. I have also been diagnosed with Asperger’s. I had a job for 7 years and got hired at a new job in February. I own my own home. All my neighbors like me and I am getting married on October 13 of 2023. She knows about my status and knows my history and is ok with what I did. That’s hard to do. The best part is that I got support from my loving family.
SUBMISSION #3
I’ve learned who my true friends are.
Out of my former friends, at least one said we could no longer be friends. A few others have quietly backed off and stopped returning my calls. Still others have reached out less frequently, made and kept plans less frequently, been shorter in communication. And some have become “polite persecutors,” as FAC had described.
Yet some have remained fiercely loyal, without hesitating to reach out and consistently unashamed to be seen associating with me.
I finally learned who my real friends are.
And there’s almost no way to tell in advance of a conviction, which friends will be the loyal ones. Some are right-wing, some are left-wing. Some men, some women. Some parents, some childless. Some prominent in the community, some private. Some are even in law enforcement.
So I know on whom to focus my energies and loyalties.
By the way, as someone who’s gotten in touch with his own weaknesses, I can admit that, were the shoe on the other foot, I might be the “polite persecutor” FAC describes. But my conviction has given me the gift of humility.
What is the polite persecutor?
Submission 5 – Move to NJ. I have been an offender since 2000. I moved from Florida to NJ. This state may be expensive to live in, but is the least restrictive. Tier 1 is not public knowledge nor on the website. You register once a year. The only grief I get are from idiots looking up and seeing my Florida registry that shows my location in NJ. Next year I will petition the NJ court to remove my offender status. The only downside is my offender status will live forever on the Florida site. Which cruise lines still see & AirBnB will still ban me from cruising or staying in any rental home.
And this right here is why no amount of personal “success” can make being on the registry any better.
I don’t know what kind of arguments attorneys are using against the registry but if we have to “give in” just a little bit, why not the idea to the legislature to have the length of time on the registry be concurrent with the length of time on probation? When you’re fully released from DOC supervision, you’re released from the registry as well because your conviction time has been served and satisfied. Seems fair.
I know there are some people on lifetime probation but they are in the minority. Most probation is 10 yrs or less and few are 25 yrs. I knew someone who had a 25 yr probation. But at his age, that was a ridiculous amount of probation to bestow upon him. He won’t live to see the end of it.
Yes, tier 1 in NJ is ok. One thing I will tell you is, DO NOT EVER VIOLATE ANY OF YOUR CONDITIONS! (If not on supervision, disregard) Doing so will make you go from being able to petition to get off the registry in 15 years (tier 1) to NEVER being able to petition to get off the registry (in NJ). IDK if you are on NJ’s CSL/PSL as a interstate compact transfer but if so, please head my warning.
@ Offender:
Unless you have been continually committing sex offenses since 2000, I strongly suggest you stop referring to yourself as one.
For every victory we get, there are 100 disappointments. But when I start to get down, I think back to my time in prison. I think to myself, no matter how nasty a neighbor is too me, I can simply go inside my house and get away from them. In prison you have few choices, be a snitch, put up with it, fight, get a beat down, or shrug it off and pray they will find someone else to bother. There is really no place to hide or run to, to get away from trouble as it will find you.
I found prison to be very similar to a bunch of 11 year old classmates. Bullies, snitches, teachers pets, immature, not wanting to take responsibility, blaming things of someone else, laziness, greed and the list goes on. How any of us made it out of there alive is a miracle in itself.
But it was also a lot like the military boot camp. Lining up, set times for eating and sleeping, foot lockers, ranking officers and more. I will do whatever it takes to never go back there. Having said that, not sure how some of these guys (And gals) continue to go back to prison time and time again.
Some learn from their mistakes and truly become a better person, and some think “Well this time I won’t get caught” and try and learn from their mistake by trying a different method of committing the same crime. We all know how that works out.
I say to all, each day thank the Lord for another day of freedom as you never know when it can be taken away. Freedom is supposed to be a right, but we all know that with the stroke of a law makers pen, we are all just one step away from a registry violation.
Thank you to all members who have given submissions. I believe it’s fundamental to know how others have gotten through dealing with the registry and that a person isn’t alone. These may even help open others up and give their experiences.
Hope, faith in a higher power, taking inspiration from others, and a refusal to let a mistake define me, get me through the day.
I got help from a 12 step group. I reread South by Shackleton and Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankel on the really hard days.
Don’t
I cannot say much, but even those who are supposed to be supportive in a chaotic world such as this is nowhere to be found. I have lived with this stigma for over thirty years and for a crime I did not committed in the first place. Posts about stings and entrapments abound. Yet, when you are caught in that web, not one support system is to be found. Lying down and letting the world have it’s way with you is the only choice? Not one person cares for the truth or allows you to tell your side or the truth as it has happened. Alone and afraid. Alone. Lay down and let go…..it is the only feasible answer.
Revenge is a very feasible answer, and it feels a lot better. We’re all headed to oblivion – best to take some of them with you. David Huber is a hero, and won the only victory I can see in 2021. Attorneys are great in a civil society, but when people know they are going to be horrifically mistreated, that judges will put their petty prejudices before the constitution, things get very un-civil. Every day I thank God for the heroism of David Huber and pray there will be more like him.
Condoning the assassination of an FBI agent is one of the dumbest uses of FAC’s platform that I’ve seen all month. I hope to G_d that there are no more David Hubers to make life more difficult for registrants and their families.
But different FAC members have different goals. Some wish the temporary satisfaction of violent revenge. Others seek a better life for their families. And the two are barely compatible. You have to pick one.
Correction, I referred to ‘revenge,’ but there’s actually no revenge gained from taking the life of someone just for being an FBI agent, or for investigating a crime of which you’re suspected.
So if you think we’ll be nice to them they’ll just give rights back? Cute idea. How has that worked out for the last 20 years? They have made it hopeless. They have given no exit. Its well beyond high time for them to see the consequences of that. Your suggestion to bootlick feels disgusting and, worse, accomplishes nothing. They time and time again prove that they think the constitution does not apply to registrants and they don’t recognize the civil rights of registered “citizens”. This website is filled with articles to that effect every week. Why should we respect their rights in return when we have not seen reciprocity in 20 years? Going to court to fight them and expecting the treatment any other citizen would receive in a civil society has been proven to be a waste of resources and false hope. You can go delude yourself into seeking a “better life” in this Auschwitz we are living in, whatever that means to you. That’s your choice. I don’t mean any offense but for me that would be a pathetic and deplorable use of the time I’m given on this earth.
BTW, Daniel Alfin was not just any FBI agent. He ran a CP site for 3 months. He argues with the hysterically absurd government reasoning that every time an image is viewed, a child is abused, and yet he personally ran a CP site for three months. Aside from personally removing hundreds of men from their families for a combined thousands of years to satisfy his own career and ego, he is the ultimate hypocrite. What we witnessed in Feb was a rare, beautiful moment of Karmic justice and again I pray it increases in magnitude and frequency until the hatred and injustice of our oppressors is returned to them tenfold. They have SHOWN US THEMSELVES that this is the best we can hope for.
Wherever this movement has scored victories, it has been in the courts or the legislature or both, using their own process against them. Moreso in states other than Florida, partly because it took years for Floridians to raise the funds needed to bring the lawsuits we wanted. But it’s not a matter of being nice or not being nice.
Now if that’s true about what that agent was up to, then his fate does indeed sound like karmic justice. But mad shooters like David Huber place this movement at risk. Because if the public fears that there are more like him, all they (or their representatives) have to do is approve larger budgets for the recruiting, training, and arming of agents. The lesson I’ve taken from the past 20 years is that there’s practically no limit to what government can do to registrants, IF the public remains afraid of them.
I don’t see victories. I see only temporary breaks on the road to defeat. The net change after every year is always worse. The public will always hate and fear registrants no matter if they go on a rampage or sit at home and do nothing just the same. The public should be SHOWN the consequences of giving registrants a “might-as-well” mentality!
I agree more David Hubers will lead to larger budgets and more personnel, but the government is going to do that anyway. The prison industrial complex continues to bloat into a disguting rotting tumor of tax waste which gorges on human suffering all on its own. The faster it grows, the faster it can finally kill its host and die.
I agree about using their own process against them. They project enough hate and fear to destroy a country, so lets help them. We should push for tougher SO laws, so that even evidence of having a sexual thought in public is gross indecency and lands one on the SO list. Get as many people on the list as possible. Spread and amplify their hate and fear far and wide. Make the public LIVE in the world they CREATED, watch them destroy themselves and each other which is precisely what they deserve. I want to see this country dragged into the mud and destroyed because they believed their little crusade was worth it, then turn around and look at all they gave up just so they could be judgemental and hateful. That’s real karmic justice.
” I want to see this country dragged into the mud and destroyed because they believed their little crusade was worth it, then turn around and look at all they gave up just so they could be judgemental and hateful.”
I like this KLM person, woohoo!
While I’m sure most of us have felt like you, KLM, at one point or another (I HAVE!), Jacob is right at this stage of the fight. The courts have thus far proven to be pretty f’n responsive to our community. This is particularly true given the current public opinion. Many judges have ruled in favor of the constitutions which bind them, which has typically meant in our favor.
They do this despite having to defend and reconcile their decisions to “protect child molestors/pedophiles/rapists/whatever-lazy-derogatory-term-the-uninformed-choose” not only to themselves, but to their significant others, family, friends, peers, and even, in some cases, constituents. Like it or not, many on the registry carry a label that is reviled, whether or not it’s accurate or warranted, because, to the ignorant (most), everyone on the registry is one or all of those things and the possibility that anyone on the registry is innocent of crimes against humanity is unfathomable.
And I’m not disparaging the stupid people out there who think what they think about us who are forced to register because, despite investing time and thinking I was knowledgeable about society and the legal system, I was that same stupid person before I f’d up.
Back to the point: the courts are working for us. Hell, even the legislatures (look at California), are working, and that’s a feat considering they often can’t pass legislation the majority of the population supports! You can devolve into talks about revenge all you want, but you’re flat out wrong. I have absolutely felt like you felt in moments and entire time periods of emotional turmoil. But, when my head is clear and I look at the landscape with objectivity instead of fear and anger, it’s abundantly clear that using the legal and proper channels is proving to be very viable.
Neither civil recourse nor violent revolt is going to abolish the registry overnight, but the former is proving to work and the latter only draws more negative attention and conclusions about people on the registry.
Your actions as a person required to register affect the rest of us, so please don’t even think of doing something that will solve nothing for you and only make things worse for the rest of us.
Gosh, I thought this kind of honesty and opinion was not allowed here. It is not the PC party line.
I agree with this completely. “People” who support the Registries are criminals. My patience with them ended.
Will
Registry supporters are people who are unable to mind their own business and believe they need to know everything about anyone; yet are the first to scream it’s a violation of their freedom if the shoe is on their foot. Those who think
That way need to be avoided.
LOL, you obviously haven’t seen Will’s posts or are you just agreeing?
Brilliantly articulated and every word spot on true and EXACTLY how I feel as well.
hello ‘Alone’, I too found no support for those caught in stings. I did make a support group, we are called CAGE and we would love to hear from you.
I would love to know more about CAGE. As I too blundered into a sting.
This is like slaves sharing tips on how to live comfortably on slave ships until they’re brought to the fields and worked to death. This is not “success”, it is coping at best. Its even more depressing than the typical content.
I want to hear stories on how you stuck it to the oppressors. How you inflicted your pain back on them multiple times over. How you made them regret. How you came out ahead and they came out behind. If you don’t have any, then go out and make some.
This ^ 100%.
Good for those who have been able to do something with their lives but they are still under constant surveillance for no good reason. They still have to ask permission to go on a vacation like asking permission to see the prison doctor and hearing a “hall pass”. That’s not success and it’s no way to live.
And GETTING a hall pass. I have no idea why my phone decided to spell “hearing”.
KLM
This is a real story but do not remember the state or department it involved. It was years ago but remember it well. A small town had so many officers that they touted that there was a zero crime rate. The cops started getting bored because there was nothing to do but they were loving the funding they got from the Government to have such a large force.
So to keep the funding flowing, they were creating crimes that didn’t exist and were harassing residents for not mowing their lawns and issuing citations to appear in court for things like broken down cars in their driveways. In the end, the citizens voted to disband the department and have the Sheriff’s office patrol their area and respond to calls “When needed”. This was like 20 years ago way before the “Defund” the police movement.
Great story, thank you Cherokee. I think BLM and defund movements would be much more successful if they argued that this is what is happening at a large scale with the prison industrial complex, rather than making it about race first and foremost and thus dividing their base unnecessarily.
Submission # 1
I Was once pulled over for running a stop sign before lighting me up the officers followed me for almost a mile I knew they were running my tag and were going to pull me over no matter what once my status came back so I wasn’t surprised. During the usual initial questions Where are you going Where are you coming from which I answered then but never again the second officer is looking through my car with a flashlight that is as bright as stadium lights The first officer then asks me questions about my son’s child safety seat in the backseat I answered the questions but will never do that again either so after 30 minutes for a 10-15 minute traffic infraction. The first officer hands me citation and say It took so long because I caused them to do more work my reply was blame the legislature. My point being the government isn’t trying to make our lives any easier we are tasked with doing extra things that the average person does not or face prison again. So I am civil but I will not give up anymore of my rights than they have already taken this experience has not been pleasant for me or my family so I couldn’t care less if someone in the machine has to fill out a extra form
Iservedmytym
Having been in law enforcement myself, I will tell you, cops “LOVE” traffic stops. 10000000 other crimes could be on hold while they “Look” for something that isn’t there. A simple stop turns into someone getting shot because an officer sees a half smoked joint in the console. Next thing you know they are tearing the car apart looking for that huge bag of cocaine that doesn’t exist.
It use to amaze me when I was in training, how half a shift was sometimes burned up with a single traffic stop. Then the paper work, processing the car, taking the person to jail for a joint, etc. A waste of tax payers money and ties up officers from responding to “Real” crimes.
I realize now days that a joint is not a big deal to the law makers but can tell you, officers still look for things that are not there. My personal experience is now the Registry is that joint. I have been stopped both in a car and also “Walking while on the registry”. I have so many contacts with law enforcement that the FDLE has a special file on me.
I drive like a granny to avoid being pulled over. And now with some departments using license plate readers, the chance of getting pulled over just to be messed with has skyrocketed. When I even see a cop on the same road as me, I turn off somewhere and wait until they pass just to avoid the long interrogations. They have lasted anywhere from 20 minutes with a reasonable officer to one incident that lasted almost 3 hours and involved 7 officers, and a call to the FDLE to see if I was supposed to be on school grounds. My grandson had to sit in the principles office with an officer until I was told to leave and not come back and was NOT allowed to take my grandson with me.
When I was in prison most of the inmates that looked down on registrants, were the ones with subscriptions to Barely Legal and spent a lot of time in the bathroom. I doubt they were breaking some type of code.
Barely Legal is legal right? Masturbation is legal too right? ( I assume you mean the magazine and time spent in the bathroom dedicated to looking at it)
LPH
Yes you correct, sorry I should of given more context or rephrased it. Just found it odd that inmates thought most registrants went after teens; while masturbating to barely legal. Heck most had pictures naked young and adult women in their locker.
Hopeless come on, one can always feel hopeless when something like this happens. Sure at times one has to put up with it but there is a right way and a wrong way. Meditate on something. Say a prayer. If you are being attacked at times its better to not say anything . Sure these registry ordeals aren’t easy and this Judd fellow in florida doesn’t seem to play by the rules.
Sure I got a bit wrapped up into this but when that police detective offered me a plea deal that was the straw that broke the camels back. Gives me a great wink and I never said a word. Now if words can incriminate someone than all the USA should take a good bitch slap to the face. I don’t know of any person that doesn’t bitch.
I have been a sweat box a few times in my early days but this registry is nothing like a sweat box as its a life of looking over one’s shoulder and thinking the worst. Sure a person once said their is nothing to fear but fear itself. So who has faith today when these ordeals come up and the trama that arrises out of them. Best thing to do is clear your mind and go about your normal business and even speaking out is good like FAC to help others in all this headache. And they call this punitive damage?
Saddles
I have been basically left alone for years. Then Nextdoor came along and things flared up 1000%. None of the registry is punished they say but even off of probation we are banned from a %$#@ app? or website? Come on man, basic rights.
And what about our families? NO one in my household or yours, or any of our families who have the same address are allowed on Nextdoor. Our families are excluded because of a connection to us. What has the greatest nation on earth become when you punish a family member for what we have done? Oh wait, I am sorry, correction there is NO punishment in the dictionary that covers anything to do with anyone on the registry.
I am inventing a new word , punishment related to the registry is now called : “Regitorical” .
Nextdoor is a bunch of adults acting like middle and high school bullies. These people need to grow up and mind their own business while working on themselves.
Has anyone tried using the 1st and 5th amendment during the registration process? Can we go in to the sheriffs office, state our name once the recording starts and then refuse to answer any further questions by stating “due to 1st and 5th amendment protections I will not be answering questions?”
Ok Cherokee lets all try to get some understanding about this hopelessness or is this so called Christian nation falling apart. If one would just look up or even open their eyes to see how punitive this registry is in many circumstances and issues we all face than one can look at this as a type of learning for those in high places. Example if you fall down what do you do.. answer you pick yourself up.
Are we all like greedy dogs. Their is even a verse in the bible about greedy dogs…I will let you all look that one up. As far as victory, Man doesn’t get any victory. It is your right to stand up and challenge this. Just like FAC, those in California and if you have to go to court over it, even to get this punitive shaming erroraced from you than do it as that is your choice and constitutional rights. Their is a difference in bearing the sword in vain.
Seems many of you all on here have had big brother government mislead you in many ways with this con game of enticement. God doesn’t play games. Mankind may play their game in this unjust saga of the registry on many of these hopeless issues but one can either stand or fall or just play chicken and let others go to bat for you in Florida or where ever. Never give up hope, faith, or charity.
You can’t plead the 5th in registration unless they’re asking you to incriminate yourself in a crime for which you have not been convicted. And the 1st Am concept of registration as compelled speech is a novel one we’ve not used in our court filings (nor has ACLU).
At the risk of appearing to encourage non-compliance: as long as failure to register remains a felony, where is the advantage in NOT registering? Will your civil disobedience be covered approvingly in the press and generate public sympathy? Or will it be reported with the headline, “Sex Offender Arrested for Refusing to Comply With Registration Laws.” Or, most likely, will it be ignored while you sit in a cell separated from your family?
Really think about this stuff guys.
Thanks for your reply Jacob.
I do not believe anything a person forced to register attempts to lessen the burden will be looked on with favor by the media or general public.
I believe the Supreme Court rulings regarding the 5th amendment have provided that you can refuse to participate in any police questioning, as long as you inform the officer that you are exercising your 5th amendment right. I could be wrong, and will do my best to find those cases. If you can find cases to the contrary, I would be very interested in listening to the oral arguments and reading the decision.
Thank you for your assistance.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/convicted-sex-offender-escaped-kansas-132642517.html
Escaped June 30th.
Now 3 months later he’s “a clear threat to the community every day he is not in custody”
MY ASS.