We are disgraced every time we show our driver’s license
In Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, it was stated that the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause was adopted to ensure that the new Nation would never resort to certain formerly tolerated punishments considered cruel because they were calculated to superad[d], terror, pain, or disgrace.
With Durable Power of Attorney for my husband, I would complete all financial transactions for him without requiring his presence. I was grateful that he did not have to be present each time I had to show his driver’s license with the capital letters, “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” Thankfully he never had to endure the disgrace of the added lettering on his license, but I, as his wife, suffered the disgrace numerous times.
Then there were the many visits to doctors’ offices seeing the license in the upper lefthand corner of the screen on the laptop. Before my husband’s release, FAC members had shared online the need to make yourself look better than the average person because people were always quick to find fault, even when there was no fault to find. So, I made sure he wore long-sleeved, button-down, collared shirts from fanatics.com’s UF shirt selection. Medical workers always complimented him on his shirts, but it never erased the lettering on the license. The disgrace for me always remained.
I would dread any new place where I would have to show his license, always watching the workers and wondering if they noticed the added lettering.
I have never broken a law, but I always felt the disgrace. I thank God that my husband had lost the ability to understand the concept of disgrace.
It is bad enough that Persons Forced to Registered (PFRs) feel this disgrace long after their sentence has been completed, but their family members also suffer because of the disgrace placed on them by an uninformed society.
Yet, courts have said that the registry is not punishment.
Disgrace is defined as a thing that causes shame, reproach, or dishonor; loss of reputation or respect; fall from favor; defamed. The markings on all driver’s licenses, whether it be a statute number or blue letters, are cruel and unusual punishment for PFRs and their family members. To say otherwise is a falsehood.
You don’t even have to leave your house for that to happen!
You’re disgraced – not to mention put in harms way – every time some rando downloads that app and looks your info up on the net.
The shame follows us daily. Some days worse that others. It has been ten years since I left prison and five since probation was terminated. Yet, as a registrant I was denied being able to attend my son’s high school graduation ceremony because I am on the registry.
The punishment never ends for crimes of “morality”. Those who are holier than thou really need to be held to the same standard but since they only judge they never will be.
Why is anyone forced to register? What did they do that put them in that position?
Patty, I am forced to register because when in 1997 at the age of 25, I had an approximately one-week long consensual relationship with a 17-year-old. The circumstances leading to my conviction were unusual because this crime, F.S. 794.05(1) (“Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor 16 or 17 Years of Age”), is often not prosecuted when the ages are that close. But I admitted my wrongdoing and successfully completed probation after it was terminated early in 2008 upon the recommendation of the probation department. In Florida, I am required to register as a sex offender for life. That’s what I did that put me in that position. I am now 52 and have never been arrested for any offense other than that one (before or since). Does the “non-punishment” here fit the crime?
Ms. Pure:
What’s the point of incarceration and probation if the state automatically decides that a person must register for life. Can be charged with a felony that carries a five year sentence for forgetting to register someone else’s car or any of the other fifty or so restrictions Florida has placed on you. The courts call it a civil administrative process. I did 18 months in prison and 5 years probation. My probation ended four years ago. I still have to register twice a year. I still have the sheriff’s office drop by twice a year. No victim. I walked into a police sting.
So I’ll ask you why is it that a person must register for life in the state of Florida under the constant threat of imprisonment long after the courts have ruled out their punishment?
Talking to and flirting with a single mother on Craig’s list in the adult area and when the cop said( before you can leave,having you ever had the fantasy to have a 3 some. He laughed and said many of the officers her fantasize about that) as in idiot who didn’t think police were this corrupt. I laughed and said yes, they then said my intent was to be with the mother and daughter. I was 28, the single mother was 34 and her daughter 14. Which was close to my first sons age with whom I have never met or knew the types of things he could be into as I never hung out with young people. So be extremely careful as the government will ruin people’s lives just to make money and gain more power.
In a nation filled with cruelty and unusual punishments, no challenge based on cruel and unusual punishment will ever be successful.
That’s because “hurting the right people” in politics has been normalized and made morally acceptable. It’s weaponized tribalism for votes.
I’m curious if all doctors offices know if someone is a registered person. I had to have back surgery and a spinal cord stimulator installed in my back. For 1 year the doctor/surgeon which is the same person ignored what I told him and my issues and complaints. Just found out from xrays the doctor installed the device in the wrong location and it can never be moved. It can be taken out but can never for the rest of my life be replaced with anything else and taking it out does pose significant issues. Also that doctor told me to stop coming to see him as I’m not his patient anymore. I’m an s.o. and just the statue printed on license
Robert, all I can say is sue that doctor for medical malpractice if you can. There are plenty of lawyers who will take that kind of case on a contingency.
I have tried in the past to get lawyers to represent me, they are excited at first and then ask me if I have a felony. I then tell them about my felony and then they refuse to represent me. So finding a lawyer is a challenge. I will continue to look around. Thank you
It seems like someone in the ACLU would help you locate a malpractice attorney–even if you had to go through another state’s ACLU.
@ Robert
I had a doctor who was going to do surgery and they are supposed to numb you. He did not and I could feel all the cuts he was making on me. I ended up going to emergency room and when I was released, I contacted several lawyers who pounced on my case.
One by one, each must have seen later I was on the registry and one by one, each one said (Without explanation) we will not be able to help you at this time.
I still have the scars on my body from the chop job that almost killed me and zero justice for me because of a label.
Furthermore, just regular doctors (Primary care doctors) although they did not hurt me, they become distant from me and could tell by their demeanor they did not want me in their office.
None of the fired me but I quietly left myself and changed doctors as I knew it would only get worse. I mean is this stuff in our medical charts or what?
I change doctors about once a year now, which is a pain in the back side. When I call my insurance company, I have to make up a reason like, the doctor is too far away to visit.
Sorry to hear that, I had something similar with my first injury from my former employer. Told the doc the meds didn’t and wouldn’t work but yet they continued and I was fully able to feel the pain and what they were doing. Thankfully now I have a pain med doctor who seems to care and respect me. But it seems like they are punishing us with their own brand of justice and should fall under inhumane and torture practices, but as we all know it’s allowed. Just found out the countries biggest law firm said they wouldn’t represent me. So now a lifetime of pain and suffering due to this label and doctor can’t or won’t be held liable. Yay,sarcastically.
There’s no excuse for it, but you can still steel yourself against it–and turn it around. Adopt a “what are YOU looking at?” frame of mind.