Bill proposes to change definition of “day”
Senate bill 1932, filed by Senator Hooper, once again seeks to change the definition of “day”. The language, contained in the definition of “Permanent Residence”, “Temporary Residence” or “Transient Residence” states, “A day includes any part of a calendar day.”
This would be disastrous. It would require registrants to register where they are physically present four or more times a year for any part of a day, during a calendar year.
As we did last year, when SB 234 tried to do the same thing, we will be making a significant push to oppose this horrible legislation, which also includes several other very harsh changes.
If you are interested in stepping up and joining a sub-committee of our legislative committee, that will focus on making our voices heard in Tallahassee, please contact membership@floridaactioncommittee.org ASAP! We will need people to make phone calls, send emails and letters and even people who can show up in person in Tallahassee to make sure we kill this horrible bill.
Oh, look at that: Ed Hooper is up for reelection this year in Florida’s 16th district. I’m utterly shocked registrants would be used as political fodder for an election year…
Everyone needs to list hoopers office as a contact and his neighborhood
With awareness of your Comment Policy and with all due respect, WTF is wrong with Florida lawmakers???!! They have an endless hard-on for oppressing, torturing, shaming and punishing Registrants. 😡
Seriously, it’s to the point of being a DSM-recognized mental illness, phobia, obsession, syndrome or psychiatric disorder!! 😵💫 Unbelievable!! 🙄
What is with this “any part of a day” that keeps coming up. Can’t they see that this is unenforceable and impossible to regulate or comply with? Every business, house, and county and govt office will have a red dot for a sex offender address if this passes, including all the Sheriffs offices. Maybe it will be a good thing, as i stated on the last go round…
Hey Jed maybe that’s what they want so it looks like there is a predator on every street corner to push for nothing but life sentences period if it is a charge involving any sexual element . or maybe a death penelty. Who knows what these insane ego fanatics will want next.
Most of the predators are in state capitals and Congress. Heck they sure like preying on the constitution and freedom.
So basically if a cop or nosy neighbor doesn’t like a person they could keep an eye on someone and report them for not registering when they go to another person’s house for a few hour a few time a year. They keep saying that the registry is not punishment but slowly they have turned it into a weird form of probation. Freedom without truly being free. Almost every law they update or create new they try to apply it to everyone that has ever committed a crime. If a law is near the end of it’s length and they are about to lose their grasp they simply change it to add many more years or to life. If they know a law can’t be too harsh they start off with a watered down version the public can get behind. Then years go by and all the while they try to modify it into something much more restricting and controlling. 5 days to 3 days now what a few hours over a few days? When will these rules that are “non punishment” be harsh enough? My crime was 24 years ago. I’m not the same 20 year old that made mistakes. At 30 I received my college degree. I have a wife and kids. I’m self employed and I’m trying to live my life like a normal person. I don’t understand why I can’t live my life like an average American once I’ve completed my debt to society? I finished that 16 years ago. How much longer do I have to wait until I can be removed from this perpetual probation?
I was denied a security clearance specifically because the military court that heard my plea stated the registration, in their eyes, is a form of probations and disqualified me for my clearance. No other reason was needed. At that point I had been off supervision about 17 years without even a parking ticket.
The problem is the individuals putting these laws into play only see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear and support … well what’s best for them.
I think I’ll start making a list of all the stores and gas stations I stop at . since I drive for a living and go all over the state it will be a big list then add the registration office and probation office post office dog sitter dog groomer and every other place I can think of. then take it to my registration office so they can get aggrevated when they have to enter it all. Maybe we can then get them to join our side to stop this horrible bill
I’d go to this guy’s office more than four times a year to lobby against him putting his office on the registry.
Lmao, 🤣😂 outstanding idea. I might just do this to local politicians around here. While I hate all this ridiculous rule that they come up with, with what appears to have little thought on how it will all eventually play out. I can see that the registry will become its own demise. The registry is already so diluted that registry actually serves no real protection or a true functional purpose to the community whatsoever. So imo, the more these politicians that add knee jerk reaction rules/laws to the registry the less purpose and function it will actually serve to the community. The way things are going? Eventually if you even say the word “Sex” in person or in a text will land you on the registry. OK that is a little dramatic but definitely a plausible assumption.
Tim P
Keep in mind, this could actually be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Eventually a lawsuit is going to reach a judge who will say ” Heck you have put so many restrictions on these folks, they might as well be back in prison again”.
So if we have to register every grocery store we frequent, A) The police will be watching to see if we go a 5th and not register, as to violate us. B) The stores will ban us since we have advertised their business as frequented by sex offenders and C) gives vigilantes somewhere to look for us at “known frequented spots” to attack us.
Excellent point.
If there’s anything registry history’s taught us, it’s that there IS no straw that will break the camel’s back.
Legislators will pile restrictions onto unpopular classes until a court orders them not to.
And even where a court strikes down a restrictive provision, they may leave in place other provisions.
Its another trap. Let’s say you stop at one particular store because its conveniently located on a route you take going from work to home so you have to list it . then they see oh there is a home daycare 2 blocks over ( it doesn’t matter that you didn’t know of the daycare , or that you don’t even go on that street ) but if they have a proximity law your in violation so they can come pick you up whenever they want to. Nope. No punishment here 🤮
Tim, I think you make a great point! The Self Incrimination Clauses of both the US Constitution and the Florida Constitution should cover this. Maybe the legal eagles involved with FAC can step in on this if the bill even passes.
I’ve tried to use this email listed and it keeps kicking it back saying it’s not valid???
Well. It still doesn’t work for me. Keeps saying it’s not a good email address. I contacted a local FAC memeber to see if I could get through.
Sorry – there was a typo in the post
This comes as Channel 9 news Reported that “Mass” releases will be happening at Florida Department of correction due to extreme shortages of prison staff.
Although the story did not mention sex offenses, like last time they did this, we were excluded from releases.
source: https://www.wftv.com/news/florida/after-decade-decline-florida-prisons-now-desperate-staffing/MY7U3JDTRBEIRPNIM6S7UCIUZM/
CherokeeJack
All I heard was the rising crime rates and the softness on crime. Umm the registry isn’t anywhere near soft it’s as rough as steel wool with rusty nails.
Unfortunately, mine bounced back as well. Error message as follows:
No mx record found for domain=floridaactioncommitee.org
OOPS – typo in the email – please try again.
Address not found
Your message wasn’t delivered to membership@floridaactioncommitee.org because the domain floridaactioncommitee.org couldn’t be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again
Can you provide the email address without typos here?
membership@floridaactioncommittee.org
Would that also require that you have to get a new drivers license, every time you got your hair cut, grocery shopped, had your car repaired? We Thank God we are out of Florida, my husband spent 15 years on the registry here as a tier 1, then we had to save and fight a court battle against the AG’s office, but we won. what is it they say free at last free at last. We pray for you all.
Actually, the Florida DHSMV will not issue a driver’s license or identification card with an address unless the applicant provides proof they really reside there, and obviously a person cannot reside (real-word reside, not the Alice in Wonderland definition as contemplated in the bill) in a Wal-Mart, a CVS, the sheriff’s office, or Tire Kingdom. And obviously only one address can appear on a DL or ID card at a time, so there is no way to handle this proposed provision with the current DHSMV and FDLE systems. What would the DHSMV do in the case of multiple temporary residences established on the same day, even assuming they were willing to do so given their strict rules for proving residence? Issue back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back ID cards with the string of different addresses, printing and shredding all but the last one? This provision would be logistically impossible to implement by the government.
Similar comment as I made on RM’s observations above, e.g., any lawmaker worth their salt (and there are a few) I think would be interested to know this.
RM
This Has Been A Conundrum from Day One…’They’ Just Told Me to Leave as ‘They’ Did not know How to Handle Such..as I had NO PROOF OF ADDRESS….The Lady, There, Gave me Her contact info If I should Have a Problem…Well, That Was Nice, But That is Not Going to Solve the Problem….
So, in Theory, It is a Set Up To Arrest Us!
The Whole Registry, Is Just A Big Set Up, WITH NO SOLUTIONS EVER!
Susan
Thank you for the prayer, we are going to need it
There are a few things we have going for us on this. First, once sheriff’s offices realize the potential ramifications of defining a day as “any part of a day,” it is unlikely they would support the change because it would just completely overwhelm them even if there is only partial or even minimal compliance. They have already complaining about having to make so many updates to “vehicles owned” (thus the portion of the bill requiring FDLE to allow that to be updated online). Some sheriff’s offices in Florida are already requiring registrants to make most information updates by phone because they’re insufficiently staffed. I’m not even sure the FDLE database could handle so many temporary addresses. Just adding my home address as a place of employment for two separate organizations required an FDLE computer specialist to update my registration record during a 45-minute telephone call because the police couldn’t figure out how to do it (apparently, their system cannot handle more than one employer per address).
Second, the way the bill is currently drafted, transient offenders (which at least here in Miami-Dade County is a very large group) might have to register as temporary residences every place they remain in more than 3 times a year for any amount of time, but the current system is not designed for handling multiple temporary residences simultaneously. Under this interpretation of the bill, transient offenders could (and often would) establish several new temporary residences on the same day (and perhaps many times per year, even every day), but only one address can appear on a driver’s license or state identification card at a time. Imagine that the same registrant “remains” at a Target, a bus stop, his grandmother’s house, a restaurant, and an auto shop all for the fourth time in a year on the same day. Which of those addresses would he have to put on his driver’s license? And of course the DMV will not issue a DL or ID card with a specific address unless the person has evidence they actually reside there (that’s part of the REAL ID Act). Before I could update my FL DL when I bought my home and moved into it 2013, I had to leave the DMV and go home to retrieve the real estate sales contract before the DMV would actually update the address. They were adamant that just a utility bill with the address was insufficient; I had to provide proof I either owned or rented the place.
If it’s the intent of this bill to require us to register every place we visit 4 or more times a year, then that needs to be in the bill’s summary and legislative analysis. It would be a clear restraint on travel and be tantamount to community control or being on bond with an electronic monitor (in fact, even community control, which is punishment, does not require this level of reporting or approval of travel). This would be by far the most punitive provision of the entire Florida registration scheme and could jeopardize the constitutionality of the entire law, and we know that legislators care about that. If it’s not the intent of this bill to require the registration of places merely visited and not resided in or at, then the bill needs to be better worded to either remove reference to “part of a day” being a day, or if they really must keep this in the bill for some reason, to reword it so that it is clear that it only applies to actual residences (i.e., where someone actually lives) and not merely places visited or “remained in.” There is just no way county registration offices, several of which are only open a few days per week or by appointment only, could handle registering so many temporary addresses. Given their current staffing levels, in high population counties there would be lines around the block and the registration office would close before getting to half of them.
And what about the possibility of having multiple permanent addresses? Assuming that “abiding” in a place means just remaining there and not actually residing in it (this is a matter of contention since different dictionaries define the term in different ways, the term is obscure, and may have been originally included because it’s related to the word “abode,” and it is not defined anywhere in the Florida Statutes — and by the way, the same wording “abide, lodges, or resides” is used in the sex offender registration laws of many states), a person could acquire multiple “permanent addresses” on the same day by visiting the same place 4 days a in a row (the gym, worksites, a family member’s home for dinner, and his actual permanent address), but the current system is not designed to handle more than one permanent address at a time. Which one would the sheriff consider the real permanent one?
This is just me brainstorming for 15 minutes about how it would be impossible for the state to even implement this type of provision, even if compliance were not an issue. This is what happens when bills are drafted in a hurry and without careful thought.
This is my thoughts exactly to a T. You just articulated and worded it better than I did.
This thoughtful analysis from RM is more than just ‘brainstorming.’ It takes a practical problem-solving approach that many legislators think themselves capable of, and it should be provided to every legislator on the committee
Here’s the science of a day he should maybe refer to for greater understanding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day
TS
Thank YOU!…I Addressed This, Similarly, Years Ago With the FAC Audience, and It Must Have Fallen on Deaf Ears
Thank You, For, Bringing This Science Back into The Discussion!
Much Appreciated!
TS
It’s sad when Wikipedia gets the definition of day, yet Florida’s legislators haven’t a clue. Are they smarter than a 5th grader? My answer is no.
So in the extreme possibility that businesses are going to be labeled, how long until registered people aren’t allowed in Walmart? Being private property, and the extreme amount of cameras they have it wouldn’t be too out there to trespass people one at a time.
Just buy a few shares of the public stock and you will now be a shareholder of the company. I did that with the GEO group to get more info. Just saying 🙂
Confused
That may be a good thing. If it comes to that, if a judge doesn’t see that as “punishment” where we are not even able to buy the basics to survive, we are doomed and the courts would be fraudulent and in contempt of dereliction of duty. If we are prisoners in our own homes, what have we become as a nation?
Even though I have never been a political person, I was hoping we would have had the chance to get our voting rights restored. But we got thrown under the bus.