Florida Internet Identifier Challenge Allowed to Proceed
The Federal District Court Judge presiding over the Internet identifier lawsuit is allowing the case to proceed despite the State of Florida’s claim that they amended the statute (the definition of Internet identifiers) and the suit is now Moot.
Among other motions for both sides that the judge dispositioned in his order, he acknowledged the registrant plaintiffs position that the 2017 amendment to the law does not cure the constitutional infirmities and the case should proceed!
Good news!
Grats, guys 🙂
Congratulations to the brave registrant and his legal team! We are cheering for your success across the nation in California.
Does this mean the 2017 amendment is now enjoined and can’t be enforced?
No, it does not mean that.
Has anyone filed a motion to enjoin it?
No – This case is in litigation. The new law was just instituted a few weeks ago and an amended complaint INCLUDING the change was filed. Rest assured it is being handled properly. We defer to the guidance of attorneys. We cannot publicly discuss litigation strategy in this open forum which the opposition is undoubtedly reading.
More light at the end of the tunnel and it appears that it is not a locomotive.
GREAT!
Please do not allow the corrupt hypocrites in Florida continue to trash the lawful constitutional rights of American citizens free speech!
They can throw us away and ban us from living with the “good people” in the REAL world but how dare they try to intimidate and ban the very essence of what America is supposed to be about and that is freedom of speech.
This madness must stop before anything else can change with SO abuse in Florida! Get the facts out there for all to see.
Do NOT let the Florida state government use LIES and FEAR to manipulate reality! This is crucial. If we can’t win this one we might as well give up.
Lee
Thank you FAC!
I am so thankful for FAC. Without FAC we might all be a ship adrift in a sea of slim. We all need to help FAC be as aggressive as necessary to fight the forces that would deprive US citizens of their Constitutional rights.
I agree that the Florida state legislature is using fear and scare tactics to pass obscured laws on all sex offenders. THE IP identifiers should be registered when a convicted sex offender uses a computer is overboard and violates privacy. It should be unconstitutional period. AJ
I am currently being prosecuted 4 failure two disclose and internet identifier. do either the Supreme Court of the United States case or the United States federal district court case in Florida apply to pending prosecution in inferior state Court’s? 7/31/17 trial.
Consult with your attorney or PD.
The SCOTUS case did not have to do with internet identifiers, so it would not help you.
Currently being prosecuted for alleged violation of Internet identifier law. Do decisions in either the Supreme Court of the United States
In Packingham v North Carolina or the decision in the United States District Court in Northern Florida have any application to pending cases involving same? In court 07/31.
Yes – if you were prosecuted for accessing social media (and not on probation).
You need to consult with your attorney.
Unfortunately, I was already on probation when the alleged violation of failing to register an email address prior to its creation. Anonymous Witness and no record of actual use. There is a long-established rigjt to Anonymous speech in the United States. As the United States Supreme Court has made clear repeatedly, speech offered anonymously is not only something to be valued under the first of amendment but it also has an intrical to our country’s development and history. Also see constitutional guarantee. The Unconstitutional Condition a Doctrine bars a government from imposing a condition on the grant of a benefit requiring the waiver of a constitutional right. State government can offer its citizens more freedoms and rights, but cannot offer fewer rights than the federal government. Moreover, the State of Florida is forbidden by federal law from converting a fundamental right, for example exercise of anonymous Free Speech online, into a crime. See Miller versus United States 1956. Also see Doctrine of Precedent. Lastly, the Supreme Court has warned, “because of what appear to be lawful commands ( statutory rules, regulations, codes, Ordnance, and restrictions) on the surface, many Americans, irbecause of their respect for what appears to be law, are cunningly coerced into waiving their rights, due to ignorance ( deceptive practices constructive fraud, conversion, afhedion contracts as well as malicious prosecution and in inferior administrative courts. See US v Minker. 350 US 179, 187, 76, S.Ct. 281, 100 L.Ed (1956) Sate courts have a solemn responsibility, equally with the federal courts, to guard, enforce, and protect every right granted or secured by the constitution for the United States. Zwick v Konya, 389 US 241, 248, 88 S.Ct. 391, 19 L.Ed. 2d. 444 (1969).
My son was just released and he is in the process of registration and probation. The judge in his case modified and departed his sentence from the registration. He was told that as far as the internet went he needed to obstain from any dating or hook up sites. He did not say anything about him not being able to use email internet etc. My son also did not have any curfew placed in his probation guidelines either. He just got a phone call from the sherriff office telling him he cant use anything on the internet or email social media etc. My son has mental health issues and right now he is having an amxiety attack because of this phone call. We are 1100 miles away and this is one of the ways we can communicate with him is through social media and they are taking that away. Where is my right to be able to have my son a part of my life? I feel like this whole thing is unconstitutional across the board. We are completely lost as to what we can do cause too many people are telling us different things and I am scared to death of having my son go back to jail. Can someone contact me as I am in Florida until this Wednesday and help my son and I out?
I am somewhat confused by this as I am sure you are too. Not sure where you are but you might consider transferring your son to be near you. That being said – unless things have changed an awful lot since my son was on probation the restriction from internet is a probation thing NOT a registry thing. As far as I know no sheriffs office in the state has the power to tell him he cannot use the internet. They may be going by the general probation rules which they assume he is under. In that case, if his probation is different from the norm for RSOs in FL he needs to tell his probation officer what is going on with the sheriffs office. Be aware there ARE different laws that are local ordinances but I have never heard of an internet moratorium being one of them. As always contacting a lawyer is a good idea but if not possible learn the actual rules on both sides and your son can ask for the judge in his case to hear the issues and make a decision. my son did that twice while he was on probation. What county is it?
There is a lot of confusion because the judge placed my son on regular probation according to the PO he is not on SO probation. We wanted him transferred but his attorney never got the paperwork going like she told us she would. This is in Pinellas County. He does not have residency restrictions or a curfew was clarified today with the PO. This is all overwhelming as we have never been through this
Dvh – The judge tried to do that for my son as well (put him on regular probation and not RSO) but the prosecutor would have no part of it and so it was not to be. His best bet is to ask the PO officer to speak to the sheriff office. I do know from experience (in Seminole county) that the sheriff office will often try to bully the young folks and it is terrifying. He can request to have his probation transferred now and you do not need a lawyer (even to another state but that is a little more complicated). If you decide to that make sure you get ALL the info needed and ask more than one person because they do not know everything like they think they do. FAC is a fabulous wealth of information and they know the the hoops to jump through. Are you also in FL? I understand the terror and how hard it is when it is your child. I went through the same thing. Also, your son’s adjudication papers should show the judges orders about the probation etc. – He should make sure he has a copy of them and he should show them to the sheriffs office. They (SO) do not like anything that deviates from the norm because it is too confusing to apply different rules to each and every RSO. Personally I think that is going to be one of the chinks in the armor of this archaic system because as more and more courts rule on ex post facto issues the governing bodies are going to have to come up with a system for applying different rules to different people and it will be chaos. Believe me all of us were “newbies” at one time and I do remember the horrible fear and confusion. BTW – is he on a ankle monitor?
We are trying to get things straight with the PO and sherriff office. My son is in Florida in Pinellas County but we are in Ohio and want to get him transferred here. It worries me being so far away but fortunately my son is able to still reside with my brother. I wish there was someone that he could contact to help him through the process as it is overwhelming. We did what we could while we were there but had to fly home today. Thank you for making me feel like I am not alone in this and have somewhere to go to ask questions. Hopefully someday soon the registry will be declared unconstitutional and we can get back some normalcy
I started my probation and did jail time in Seminole County….you are 100% correct, they are bullies without a doubt. The judge told me there would be no monitor, but didn’t write it in the orders, so they took it upon themselves to push me on a wall and start putting it on. When I tried to explain to them the judge said no monitor, they laughed and said “Are you resisting?? oh please tell us you are resisting, please. It’s what we want!” They also made sure to mention the fact that they don’t like scumbags like me and we are the worst of the worst, things to that effect. They said they didn’t care about anything I said, only what was on the court papers. Which is true of any probation, really. Those court papers are holy scriptures to them and if the judge said anything to you make sure it’s on those papers or it won’t be upheld. Seminole County also made me carry a Sex Offender ID card, and every time the officers came to check on me the made sure to make a big deal about that. Just awfully hateful people working for them. Also don’t expect anyone to ACTUALLY help you with anything. They can’t wait to get you back behind bars.
I have a pending court case in August of 2017. Is the injunction currently in place or has it expired? My attorney says the injunction is no longer in effect. Facing life sentence update is urgently needed.
The injunction enjoined the 2016 change to the law, which was never put into effect. That law was replaced by the 2017 version.
The arrest for my alleged failure to register an email address occurred in November of 2015. The 2017 trial for this alleged crime was ruled Nolle Prosequi last week (only 20 months after alleged crime). However, my violation of probation hearing continues next week. My public defender continues to claim recent United States District Court rulings have no effect on my case.
You are (even with the enjoined 2016 law) still required to register your email address.
The recent SCOTUS decision deals with access to social media, not registration of emails.
We can’t comment on your case, but based on what you are saying you were charged with (failure to register an email address), the Packingham case would have no effect.
What is the latest in regards to this litigation?
As last week we updated, motions for summary judgment were filed this month
when is the earliest that we will know about winning the challenge again?
There is no timeline.
Summary Judgment Motions were just filed a couple of weeks ago. Trial is scheduled a few months out.
I have a question for FAC, I did my 6 month check-up today. And of course, They notified me of the “New Law” about the Internet Identifer law. And I informed them, That all I had was a EMAIL address and didn’t use “Social Media websites”. But I signed the Forms required to register, And AFTER I signed it, I was told by Marion County Sheriff’s Sex Offender Unit SGT that “I HAD to “LISTEN to almost an HOUR of all the “Requirements” that we’re on the paperwork I had in my hand, They said , Because of a law change, I had to listen again, I asked to listen to ONLY the new Law because I’ve heard everything else many times before (Everytime I go to update something or go to check out to travel). She said “NO” I had to listen to it ALL !! Well I pulled up the Florida Statue they said was passed, It is F.S. 775.21. Also named ” The Florida Sexual PREDATOR Act” I Enforced her that I was NOT a PREDATOR and this law doesn’t pertain to me, Because I’m a “OFFENDER”, And the law PLAINLY says “Predator” !!!!. And I didn’t have any “Social Media accounts anyway. They made me wait over 15 minutes just sitting and waiting to “LISTEN” to this crap. I finally asked how much longer it was going to take to start the “Recording, And she said, I it’s playing and that I didn’t turn a on the headphones, So I had to “WAIT until it was done, Then she would restart it. And if I didn’t listen to the ENTIRE recording, she would put on my info, That I REFUSED to listen !!. I refused to listen and left. I have a copy proving I registered like I’m “Required”, And it says in Big Bold Black letters on the bottom of the last page, That I swear that I’ve READ or HAVE BEEN READ the Requirements. So, Since I refused to listen to all that crap, Can/Will they try to VIOLATE me somehow ?? I’m NOT on any kind of Supervision ! Been off almost 10 years !. Just getting tired of being treated like crap and starting to stand up against tyranny !!!. Should I worry ??
To our knowledge there is no State statute that requires you listen to the County’s recording (which we would be VERY interested to hear)!
If you show up and register and do, you’re good (naturally, and follow all the rules too).
All the Recording is, Is everything that is written on the “Requirements and Rules”paperwork that we get Everytime we register. Another words, They give you a Headphone set, And It “Reads” you the “Requirements and Rules” . I guess this is for people that can’t read ???Âż? But in my case, I can read just fine. And with the F.S.775.21, It plainly says PREDATOR in Bold Letters !! So how can a “Law” or “Condition” or “Restriction” that plainly says that it’s meant for a “Predator” be used against and enforced against a “OFFENDER” ?????. It’s like FLORIDA is just bunching everyone together (behind the scenes) and treating everyone the same, Even tho the “Laws” say a Predator and Offender is two VERY DIFFERENT Status Labels !!!!. If a law PLAINLY says it’s designed for a Predator, Then “BY LAW” a Offender doesn’t have to follow it, Because it DOESN’T APPLY to them !!!! Correct ??.. All this “ADDED” crap since 2003 when I caught my charge is really getting too me !!!. I was ADJUCATION WITHHELD to begin with !!!, Then somehow I ended up being CONVICTED when getting off Probation !!!!???. And it’s been 8 years since my End of Sentence. So I can’t do ANYTHING about my conviction now !!. Didn’t know I only had 2 year’s to fight it !!!. Everything about the “Legal System” is Corrupt !!. I fought long and hard to keep from becoming a “FELON”, But somehow my nasty, Lying Probation Officer got me Convicted !!!!. I still don’t know exactly how or when/why I was Adjucation “Guilty” but I was !! And every Lawyer I’ve spoken with (back after getting off Probation) wanted $25K to fight my case ! I was one that “Fought The System” and over 4 years of Probation, I had 7 violations (all which I beat/I thought). And was in Court almost every Month fighting my Probation Officer !! I had so many “Modifications” to my “Terms of Probation” that every Lawyer said it was a “Nightmare to fight !. So here I am !! Ruined for LIFE after loosing EVERYTHING fighting to keep from being CONVICTED !!. With NO OPTIONS EVER to reverse my Adjucation !!!!!.