Identifiers on Sex Offender Passports and other Legislation

Weekly Update 2017-10-30

Dear Members and Advocates,

There is a lot going on and a lot of information we are anxiously waiting to receive.

First, this past Thursday, oral arguments on the Motions for Summary Judgment took place in the Internet Identifier lawsuit. Attorneys for the Florida Justice Institute, who are co-counsel with Weitzner & Jonas, travelled to Tallahassee for the hearings. The Judge advised that he will be issuing Orders soon, so we are anxiously awaiting the results. While it’s impossible to predict the outcome, we have every confidence in the attorneys and we remain optimistic.

A summary judgment motion asks the Court to render its decision based on the legal matters presented. Essentially, it’s saying “here’s what we have, the other side doesn’t have a case and we deserve to win.” Both the registrant plaintiffs and the State each submitted these motions and those motions were argued last week. What we are hoping for is that the State will lose theirs. If the State wins, we lose and the Internet Identifier restrictions stand. That would be a worst-case scenario. If the State loses; we have a “better” and a “best” case scenario. The “better” is that the case proceeds to trial and the “best” is that we win our motion, which brings instant relief without more litigation.

As soon as an order is issued, we will post it to our site, so please check back regularly for an update.

Second, this past Friday, the US State Department issued a Press Release, announcing its planned “unique identifier” for the passports of registered sex offenders. “The identifier is a passport endorsement, currently printed inside the back cover of the passport book, which reads: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212b(c)(l).””

This is what we were expecting since the International Megan’s Law was passed in February of last year, but we were unclear as to how the “unique identifier” would be displayed. So now we know.

We were hoping that the identifier would be something less conspicuous, something that would be detectable only to border agents or something that didn’t necessarily contain the word “sex offender” or “sex offense”. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case. Since passports are required by many international hotels and used as identification when travelling (beyond just at the border), bearing that scarlet letter carries the risk of being targeted when travelling abroad. It also makes it less likely that you will be permitted to enter a receiving country.

Never in the history of the United States has a citizen’s passport been branded as it is by the IML. FAC plans to coordinate with sister organizations, such as Registrant Travel Action Group and The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws to come up with a method to challenge the planned action. In the meantime, if you plan to apply for a passport, expect that it will be issued with this mark and if you have a current passport, expect to be notified by the US State Department that you will need to apply for a new one with the identifier. Until you receive notice, you should expect that your current passport remains valid. If you have any questions; you can contact the Angel Watch office under Child Exploitation Unit, ICE Cyber Crimes Unit Center at 703-293-8005 (x 3) or via email:  dhsintermeganslaw@ice.dhs.gov.

Please be sure to share any information you come across with us and we will do the same. You can forward emails to legal@floridaactioncommittee.org or you can leave a message by calling (833) 2-REPEAL [833-273-7325].

Third, the County of Miami-Dade filed its Answer and Affirmative Defenses to the Second Amended Complaint in the Sex Offender Residency Restriction Challenge. The train is moving forward, and it seems the County (after having the last Motion to Dismiss reversed in the Appellate Court) decided not to file a Motion to Dismiss this time. After the updated story in the New Times a couple of weeks ago, “A Month After Irma, Miami-Dade’s Sex Offender Camp Is Still There” one has to wonder whether the County wants to get rid of this problem as much as we do.

Finally, this weekly update is being sent in advance of Halloween. This is the holiday dreaded by those on the registry because of all the unfounded “scare stories” in the media about registrants and the constant reminders to “check the registry.” You can expect a “compliance check” from your local Sheriff’s office (unless you’ve already gotten one this season) and be aware of the restrictions that you are bound by (and the ones you are NOT bound by). Generally, for a probationer or community controlee who is subject to supervision for a crime that was committed on or after May 26, 2010, there is a prohibition on distributing candy or other items to children on Halloween. If you are not on probation or your offense pre-dates May 26, 2010, you should check your County AND City ordinances to see what restrictions you have (if any). Most of all; be safe! With all the news stations pointing to the registry, it won’t be uncommon to become a target of vandalism or other Halloween “tricks”. Stay Safe!

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee

Reminders
NARSOL Halloween Marathon Conference Call tomorrow October 31.  https://narsol.org/2017/10/a-special-halloween-narsol-in-action/
Next Membership Call this Thursday Nov 2 at 8 p.m. See phone number below.
Next Meet and Greet this Saturday in Gainesville.  Call the membership line at (833) 2-REPEAL [833-273-7325] for details.