County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable
The Newberry city commissioners in Alachua County considered expanding their residency restrictions beyond the state’s 1000 feet. The city attorney said that “while a stricter code would be allowable, it may not be enforceable because the state will not prosecute a local ordinance that is not also a violation of state law, unless the city enters into an agreement with the state prosecutor.” (Gainesville, FL Main ST Daily News, by Glory Reitz, September 6, 2023)
This was the same advice that the city attorney for Gainesville, Florida, gave to the city commissioners when a lawsuit was filed challenging their 2500-foot residency restriction. Rather than fund what could have been a costly lawsuit, Gainesville wisely dropped their 2500-ft restriction in favor of the state’s 1000 feet.
Newberry will be looking into how Williston, Florida, has been able to enforce its 2500-foot residency restriction. Because no one has filed a lawsuit to force them to back down.
So someone has to fall on the sword and get arrested to stop the nonsense, but then never be eligible to get off the registry themselves. Maybe someone that has already had another arrest and has nothing to lose (Other than money for lawyer’s fees and possibly going to prison) could step up and shut this down by challenging it.
No one with any common sense is going to purposely going to get arrested. I laugh when I see politicians recently getting arrested like they are standing with protestors. They know their charges will be thrown out while the common people’s may not be.
Someone of us have too much to lose to fall on the sword. I am taking care of my elderly parents. I cannot put them through that pain again. My original arrest almost killed my Mother.
Cherokee:
I just took a quick glance at the Florida Constitution. Florida appears to be a home rule state. As a general rule, cities in home rule states have broad discretion in passing ordinances. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone fall on the sword because I believe that their conviction would most likely be upheld.
Be patient. I believe that these laws will be taken down in federal court. Just look at Michigan. You have to be patient while competent litigators deal with these laws.
Vocal
Last I heard Michigan re-did the registry and put everyone back on? I have read so many articles and comments from people up there good and bad that I do not know what to think. At the very least, people who have been on a registry (If it were to exist at all) should have a pathway off.
A judge in Florida stated that fact, but then it was challenged and now we are waiting for a decision which is holding me and others from even trying to get off.
My offense was 33 years ago. Not so much as a parking ticket since, but according to the registry, we are all the local villains or the town pervs. People who do not even live in my area drive by and throw rocks at our house and cops won’t do jack @#*&.
Yes, Cherokee the Michigan case seems to be revolving loop on the pacer site they just summited their motion for summary judgment https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/43426987/Doe_A_et_al_v_Whitmer_et_al
CherokeeJack:
I don’t believe that Michigan ever took anyone off of the registry. There is no doubt that the litigation in Michigan is the most advanced in the country and will eventually affect every other state.
I started an article on the Michigan registry back in April and it probably won’t be completed until next year because I work pretty long hours. If you go to vocalhome.blogspot.com, you will see that my articles are pretty in depth. My Michigan registry article is so long that I will have to publish it in a series. I will be including current information from several dozen people on the registry in this series in order to give everyone a better idea of what’s going on in Michigan.
Vocal Thanks for all you do. If I ever get removed, I will be an advocate but for now, comments on FAC is the best I can do. I have already been targeted several times so I have to lay low for my families safety.
CherokeeJack:
You can be an advocate as long as you work anonymously. I own a business and my advocacy is only possible because I remain anonymous.
This is Dillon’s law, a 17th century rule which makes local law making very hard at times. It has kept some communities from reigning in police with C-COPS model legislation put out by the ACLU.
I’m betting that Probation would enforce it on people on probation whether or not it could be prosecuted by state charges or not. This would affect a lot of people regardless because of that.
Probation might tell a registrant that “it’s their policy to not let registrants do that”. I say that because I had that happen to me in two states, for two separate reasons. One was a reversal in Volusia County because I transferred from the DeLand Probation Office to Daytona.
Oh, they’re not trying to enforce anything. That’s not the point. They just want to be able to say you can’t live there. They want to be able to say, “hey, you can’t live here, be here, please leave and if you don’t the police will come make you leave.” If you get arrested you’ll get something like refusing a police command or resisting arrest. Yeah cities like Crestview have no plans to press any kind of charges because they don’t have any standing. The State does all that.
SB 170, which could boost legal challenges to local ordinances. In part, the law requires local governments to suspend enforcement of ordinances while lawsuits play out and makes plaintiffs eligible for up to $50,000 in attorney fees if a court finds ordinances are “arbitrary or unreasonable.”
I’m trying to decipher this article https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-effectiveness-of-home-rule-a-preemption-and-conflict-analysis/
Seems we can still argue conflict doctrine implied or expressed Preemption don’t know if we been down this road before.
Indian river county has a 2000 foot residency restriction and a shaming channel that shows all registrants on TV.
Ben..our home was deemed an acceptable residence we are 1000 ft from a school …. By Fed PO and is noted on his release information…..IRC