Woman’s License Mistakenly Marked ‘Sexual Predator’
A Florida woman took her children to Disney World for a fun weekend, but was denied service at the hotel. When she asked why she was not allowed to stay there, she was shocked by the response. Now, the mother is taking legal action.
Tammy Lemasters was denied service at Disney World and when she asked why, she was told it was because her driver’s license listed her as a sexual predator, the New York Daily News reports. She was shocked by the revelation, as she has no history of any such crime.
“I was afraid to drive in my car,” Lemasters told The Associated Press. “I was afraid of getting pulled over. I was afraid of the kids being in the car.”
Lemasters is now planning to file a lawsuit against the Lake County Tax Collector’s office for defamation after she says a computer glitch caused the phrase “sexual predator” to be printed on her license, according to the Daily News.
“It reminds me of the book, ‘The Scarlet Letter,'” said Lemasters’ attorney John Phillips. “She walked around with that on her license, not knowing where it had been reported. This is completely, completely avoidable by just putting in some sort of default on the computer.”
Phillips says an office clerk had checked off “yes” for “sexual predator” rather than “organ donor” while filling out forms on a computer.
The error caused Lemasters to be denied service from a hotel and detained at Disney World for three hours, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The mother and her fiancé told employees at Disney World that the stamp was a mistake, but were held while employees contacted the authorities regardless.
The manager of the Lake County Tax Collector’s office David Jordan said the issue was due to a human error from a “top-notch” worker, the Daily News reports.
“We made a mistake. Period,” Jordan said. “We feel horrible. It totally stinks it happens. Everybody involved feels terrible. We offer our apologies. We offered it immediately.”
Lemasters says she didn’t notice the stamp on her ID and didn’t think to check for a mark identifying her as a sexual predator.
“They asked me to check my name and address, and that’s what I checked,” she said, the Orlando Sentinel reports. “The sexual-predator box is in the lower corner, and she had her finger there. I just took it and put it in my wallet. No one checks for ‘sexual predator’ on your license.”
Phillips says the goal of Lemasters’ lawsuit is not to be paid, but rather to prevent the problem from happening to others.He says that if the agency agrees to make changes in its system to prevent the problem from reoccurring, the lawsuit will not be filed.
If a sexual predator or sex offender is going to be identified on a drivers license then all convicted of any felony should have that conviction listed on the drivers license. All citizens need to be treated equally. The drivers license should be for law enforcement purposes, anyway, and therefore any violations should be in code understood by law enforcement only. My doctor, librarian, a hotel manager, etc. has no need for the information.
True! Captain. Who identify those who kill; particularly children and walk around us freely, get jobs everywhere, open day care centers an are not required to be ID as child killers….why are these laws so crooked? Who allows these regulations get so out of control? Are we that afraid to fight for the restoration of our rights?
I agree – if we are going to label drivers licenses how about drunk drivers etc? You know things that actually have to do with driving?
Right… or since people use their IDs when paying with credit cards or checks, people who have been arrested for writing bad checks or who have credit card fraud convictions.
It would make sense to brand someone’s driver’s licenses in scenarios where they actually have to use it for driving or identification. Does the legislature presume that children are going to ask to see ID before being abducted?
It’s all about shaming. Not about public safety.
Sounds similar to a story about a Christian who was forced to wear a star in Nazi Germany by mistake. Unfortunately the outcome was not as pleasant as it was for this woman.
She found out that being labelled and forced to wear that label publically is not so pleasant. Now at least she knows what registered citizens deal with 24 / 7 / 365.
Seems that in America we do not learn from history. Well, the government did learn a lot about using fear as propaganda to control the population…so there is that! 🙁
Wonder why this has not been challenged as compiled speech as all is required to have a DL or ID cards
“they called authorities”
wow, so not only are they ejecting, or in this case it sounds like they detained the family, but they call the cops? is it actually “illegal” to be at Disney? i have heard that Disney is kicking registrants out, but i didnt realize they were actually call the police. Can any business call the cops over customers they don’t want to serve? i wasn’t aware that this was a valid reason to call police.
“I was afraid to drive in my car,” Lemasters told The Associated Press. “I was afraid of getting pulled over. I was afraid of the kids being in the car.” Yes! and this is how all the other registrants feel as well especially those with families, friends, coworkers that might be in the car. Does this sentiment she expresses sound like this notification is ‘non-punitive’? She sure sounded punished by the anxiety and fear inherent in her speech.
Disney will have the police issue a No Trespass Notice to members of the Hit List; unsure on the legalities of them detaining someone until the sheriff gets there to trespass someone.
It reminds her of The Scarlet Letter…..but I bet if you had asked her a week ago if it was OK to put that mark on an SO’s/SP’s license or passport, she would have said HELL YEAH HANG THOSE SCUMBAGS!!
But it is suddenly not OK when it happens to her….the double standard at it’s best.
I was held at Disney in the office.They locked the doors and called the cops to give me a trespassing warning. The official document said that they don’t accept that kind of conduct in there park. So it was made to look like I actually did some kind of conduct when my conviction was almost 20 years ago.
Somebody having experienced this needs to get disney in court to determine and clarify exactly what kind of ‘conduct’ they are giving a trespassing charge for.
thanks for your input Chris
How long ago did this happen? I am an annual passholder.
I am registered as a swx offender in the state of Florida. This last April to spend a day at Epcot, so I had my wife buy our tickets to get in the park. Because I know if I had bought them, it would have been a problem.
I also agree with others that say that if we have a designation on our license, then others that commit other crimes, should have the same thing on their licenses.
You are so right mark is like we are the worst thing on this planet and it should not be there are the criminals runaround every day and Their driver license don’t have that it’s really not fair for us at all but it’s still mankind law
So the lawyer recognized this as a scarlet letter but only seems concerned that a non-registered citizen was marked and mistreated because of it. Not much of a lawyer.
The Scarlet Letter was forced on Hester Prynne not as a heads up to anyone around her that a “loose” woman was around but specifically as a further punishment for her behavior after she was let out of prison. In Germany it was used to tag an undesirable class of citizens to be murdered. Public safety has nothing to do with it. Why can’t judges see that it is the same today?
Holding someone for police who has done no crime but is merely undesirable sure sounds like kidnapping to me.
I’m not sure if any of you realize this but it goes further than just the stamp on dr. lic. or id card it is on your driving record thus when insurance for vehicle company’s or others that check your lic. even when you apply for credit if they also check your lic. like opening new bank accounts when they pull your dl info it is right there for them to see. thus they don’t have to actually see the phyical lic. you have in your possession any dl check will be branded that your on the hit list as well
So, is it a violation to be in disneyworld? This I guess
Is private property and have their own rules.
Where else can registered citizens be removed from?
maybe we should look at the federal guidelines and how the states are overstepping there authority. or there any other state’s that has the word sex offense and predator on any license.? and how did it become a law to have and state of florida license or a id: I always understood
that driving was a privilege. this is only a way the state of florida can public sham us. I am a veteran of the united states army and I am getting damn tired of the states overstepping my constitutional rights as an American citizen. I am a rso . GIVE ME FREEDOM OR GIVE ME DEATH!!!!!!!!
in Louisiana it is marked on your id in large red letters..
That is disgusting, Susan!
Speaking of licenses and car tags – my son just got his first car and I have to tell you I am terrified. Not in the way most parents are in this situation but that his car tag etc. will be used to cause him harm. I have heard that law enforcement drives through parking lots to get a “hit” on an RSOs tag to violate them for the proximity crap. Has anyone had problems with this or otherwise been harassed becasue of their license or car tag? How can anyone ever know all the rules and live that way? It is just horrifying. I read an article that talked about Marion county and how they purchased these fancy scanners so all they have to do is drive through parking lots and the scanner beeps at them to inform them that it is an RSOs car or a car that is registered to someone with a warrant etc. Then the article said they actually arrested one sex offender for a felony because of these fancy scanners (of course they did not say what kind of felony) and you can almost bet it was a proximity thing. It means that no matter where you go (county to county or state to state) you have to know all the rules everywhere! For instance, in Seminole you better not be near a Park but in Orange county you can be in a Park IF you have reason (they go by the State guidelines) but how does the officer driving through the parking lot know that? They don’t, so are they going to go into the Park and embarrass the RSO and their family asking questions etc.? It scares me….
I recently moved to Florida and signed up for annual passes to Disney World for my wife and I. Part of that process is to submit your ID information. When we arrived at Disney that morning, I was detained and issued the trespass warning. Disney claimed that they use facial recognition software and that’s how they knew that I am on the registry. I believe they just looked it up on the initial application. I had been at Disney the previous fall with my grandson and wasn’t stopped.
I won’t go back to Disney obviously, but I plan on attending Universal Studios and Bush Gardens, just not signing up for the annual passes.
By the way, I pled to a misdemeanor in Alabama but am on the registry here in Florida which is considered a felony. I am waiting for the letter from the state denying me the right to vote!
So did you get to use your annual passes at all?
No, they refunded all of our money. After I got the trespass order we just left, didn’t feel up to spending my money in their place of business any longer!
Were the passes under your name or your wifes? I’ve had mine since april after i upgraded from a 3 day Florida resident pass. I’ve used mine twice. And we will again in September. My passes are under my wifes account.
They were under my name, which was the problem of course. If we go back, we will just purchase daily tickets where no ID is required. I am certain they don’t use facial recognition software anyway.
So, I guess the thing to do, is if you are going to get the special Florida passes for Disney World. Then I should have them in my wifes name, and there won’t be a problem, Right?
I can’t answer that question, I don’t really know. If I remember correctly they want the names of everyone who is going to be on the passes, so they may discover it that way.
that is interesting – when I have purchased passes for others that person still had to show their ID (because of the FL resident thing) –
and they don’t require to have the other people on the account to show their ID’s?
yes they do, at least they did when we went to the main gate to get our passes, wife had to show her ID and so did I – that’s when the security came out to the ticket window and “escorted” me to their secure facility – while we waited on the deputy sheriff to arrive.
I can tell you with 100% certainty Disney does not have facial recognition software that “pegged” you. That was a lie. They have been “playing” with the idea of using facial recognition in some of their resorts for the convenience of guests but it is voluntary and most guests are opting out.
I figured they were lying when they showed me a copy of the registration. It is their business they can run it as they seem fit to do. Just without my patronage.
Isn’t it ironic that one can get a pass under someone else’s name and it is OK for the RSO to enter the park, but if the RSO uses his/her name it is not OK? Just another example of how stupid these rules are. I used to own Disney stock but I sold it and today would not give Disney a penny of my hard earned money.
What about the people with a CDL that is a Federal Lic. thus they are marking the federal lic. compeled speach!