The trouble with crime-fighting automated license plate readers

Eleven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant before a GPS tracking device can be attached to someone’s car. Eleven years later, police all around the country are tracking cars through license plate readers that do the same job with no warrant required.  These license plate readers are mounted alongside roads and on police cars. 

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News Sharing and General Commentary

Members, advocates, and all followers of Florida Action Committee’s news website: Please use this post to bring our attention to fresh news or media content. You may also use the comment area on this post to leave comments on any topic relevant to FAC’s journalistic mission. Question: Why does this post exist? Answer: FAC comment policy for all other posts is that

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Opinion piece from The Hill on the American Data Privacy and Protections Act (ADPPA)

The American Data Privacy and Protections Act is being considered in Congress.  Florida Action Committee wants to make sure that our members are aware of what it entails. This bill would allow individuals (no excluded groups) to force companies to delete information about them. As stated by Kevin Metcalf, opinion contributor for The Hill – 03/02/23, “The reality is that

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Illinois Supreme Court strikes down social media ban for sex offender

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled this week that it is unconstitutional to ban people on the sex offense registry from social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.  The argument was that the ban was a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment – fundamental right to free speech.  (The State Journal-Register) Fortunately, the Illinois Supreme Court realized

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Pressure continues to subtly build on Florida to give all of its citizens the right to vote

According to The Associated Press, 2023, “Restoring the voting rights of former felons drew national attention after Florida lawmakers weakened a voter-approved constitutional amendment and after a new election police unit championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis arrested 20 former felons.  Several of them said they were confused by the arrests because they had been allowed to register to vote.”

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Tampa man who was first to face trial for Florida voter fraud in 2020 election gets probation

A Hillsborough County man who has a past sex offense was the first person in Florida to face trial on charges of voter fraud.  The jury came up with a split verdict:  guilty of false affirmation, but not guilty of voting as an unqualified elector. The false information:  Potential voters must swear, under penalty of perjury, that they are not

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Bills filed in both the Florida Senate and House that would allow the death penalty for child rapist

A child being raped could easily be seen by most of society as the most heinous of all crimes.  Does it deserve the death penalty?  Florida Action Committee does not take a stand on this issue, but there are some facts to consider. Separate bills in both the house and senate have been filed that would eliminate the requirement for

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Press coverage continues to grow for the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe

The Chicago Sun Times, along with other media sites, are weighing in on the damage that Justice Kennedy caused in 2003 to hundreds of thousands of people forced to register.  The myth (the recidivism rates for people on the registry is frightening and high, possibly as high as 80%), has resulted in every state making policies NOT based on research.

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