Weekly Updates

Weekly Update #25 Dear Members and Advocates, This week FAC was featured in two news outlets. First, Orlando’s WESH, aired a report on sex offenders in theme parks which featured commentary from FAC’s President, Gail Colletta (that report can be found here: https://www.wesh.com/article/sex-offenders-at-florida-theme-parks/27269367) and second, the Miami Herald printed a letter to the Editor concerning the “scandal” at The Boy

Weekly Update #23 Dear Members and Advocates, We want to send a special thank you to all who have responded to our Call to Action on HB 987. Feedback we are receiving from members who reached out to legislators and organizations in the hospitality industry is that several groups, not just ours, are opposed to the Bill. HB 987 would

Weekly Update #22 Dear Members and Advocates, “In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2011, Scott covered his recliner in plastic and carefully leaned plywood against the backrest. He covered his head with a tarp, grabbed a rusty shotgun, and put the barrel under his chin. He pulled the trigger.” His mother, Linda, later explained to the local paper

Weekly Update #21 Dear Members and Advocates, The “Three R’s” (Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmatic), which form the pillar of primary education are about to get a companion, as legislators in Florida are looking to add “human trafficking” to the PreK – 12 curriculum. House Bill 259 is making its way through this legislative session and proposes to include “human trafficking” education

Weekly Update #20 Dear Members and Advocates; As the late singer Tom Petty said, “the waiting is the hardest part.” We are waiting on Courts’ decisions in two cases we initiated; the “Ex Post Facto Plus” case and the “In-Person” challenge. In both Federal cases, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has filed Motions to Dismiss and in both cases

Weekly Update #19 Dear Members and Advocates, On Monday March 18, CNET, a media outlet for news on technology and consumer electronics, published an article that scared the hell out of me. The article was about the use of facial recognition in different applications. Some of the applications completely obliterate any semblance of privacy, and for persons on the registry

Weekly Update #18 Dear Members and Advocates: This past week, the Florida Action Committee attended and exhibited at the 2019 Florida Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers Annual Conference and Membership Meeting. FATSA is the Florida affiliate of the international, multi-disciplinary, non-profit organization dedicated to making society safer by preventing sexual abuse. While most would think that an organization

Weekly Update #16 Dear Members and Advocates, In June of 2018, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) announced that the total number of people listed on sex offender registries had surpassed the nine hundred thousand mark (900,202 to be exact) and had grown at a rate of 3.3% since the count done six months prior. As of

Weekly Update #15 Dear Members and Advocates, Earlier this month, I began our weekly update explaining why I was glad the Patriots won the Superbowl… because of their owner, Robert Kraft. I wrote about his dedication to criminal justice reform and how he and other celebrities created an alliance to lobby for changes to state probation and parole laws. I

Weekly Update #14 Dear Members and Advocates, Inconsistency is the topic of this week’s update. Laws governing persons required to register as sex offenders are plagued with inconsistencies, which make complying with and enforcing them a challenge. Take, for example, age of consent laws. In some states the age of consent is 16. In others it’s 18. According to NBC