Draconian Sentencing for Sex Offender Technical Violations
Weekly Update 2017-05-16
Dear Members and Advocates,
In 2003, the Sex Offender Registry was determined by the Supreme Court of the United States, in Smith v. Doe, to be “non-punitive”. That means it’s not punishment and has further been described to be “civil” and “remedial”. But where else can you find sanctions for violating a civil statute so severe? Generally, in Florida, any misstep when it comes to a registration requirement is a third degree felony, and carries up to five years in prison. Often, the not-punishment for violating this “civil statute” will get you far more time than the underlying crime did.
Case in point is a Georgia man who had his conviction overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court this week. He was serving a 30-year sentence for a registration violation – he didn’t register his new address! The basis of the appeal had nothing to do with the length of his sentence for the registration violation, but it’s impossible to learn of the facts of the case without wondering how it is that he got 30 years for a registration violation when he got far less time for his underlying crime (a 2004 Statutory Rape)!
Now it’s one thing if there’s a willful, long standing violation where an individual refuses to comply so they can commit new crimes, but it’s entirely another when someone accidentally forgets to go register or has some other circumstance that prevents them from getting to the registration office and the DMV within 48 hours (or any of the more than a dozen other requirements that a registrant has to keep at the forefront of their mind in everything they do and prophetically know about when the laws change each year).
The number of registration violations and the amount of time people are getting for them is on the rise. It’s a function of the ever-expanding scope of the registration requirements and the ever-expanding number of individuals being added to the list without any attrition. In this Month’s Prison Legal News there’s an article entitled, “Registration, Tracking of Sex Offenders Drives Mass Incarceration Numbers and Costs.”<https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/may/5/registration-tracking-sex-offenders-drives-mass-incarceration-numbers-and-costs/> The article questions, “how many of the nation’s more than 805,000 registered sex offenders are in prison or jail on any given day just for violating registration requirements – which are technical violations rather than sex crimes, and did not even exist before 1990. And how much does that, and registry enforcement efforts, add to the rising costs of tracking and monitoring sex offenders? In Palm Beach County, Florida, one officer said 20 deputies are assigned full time to check on sex offenders and confirm their residences.”
Without having proven the effectiveness of the registry at preventing sex offender recidivism, how can one argue that this is about prevention and not punishment? To date we have not seen any studies or reports that quantify how much the registry is costing tax payers. To date we have also not seen any studies or reports that indicate the registry has a demonstrable effect on the rate of sexual crime. To date, we have unquestionably spent billions of dollars on policies and practices that have not proven effective and handed out centuries of prison time for technical, often unknowing violations of something not intended to be punishment. Very sad!
It’s time to change all this! Stay tuned for updates on our Ex Post Facto challenge.
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
Local sex offenders on social media illegally: A Contact 5 investigation<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/local-sex-offenders-social-media-illegally-contact-5-investigation/>
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – “Ok cool, can we make love in the shower?” “Can we use cooking oil for lube? I heard that works too.” “What happens is up to us, we own our own destiny.” Real messages, sent from middle aged men in Okeechobee and St. Lucie County to police…
The Dobbs Wire: Exposed: – high-priced JUNK SCIENCE in Colorado – ‘lie detectors'<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/dobbs-wire-exposed-high-priced-junk-science-colorado-lie-detectors/>
High-priced ‘junk science’ in Colorado: A Denver Post investigative reporter, Christopher Osher, has a very interesting and detailed report about Colorado’s “aggressive” use of polygraph tests on persons convicted of sex offenses. Considered unreliable *junk…
New administration wants to hand out more time.<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/new-administration-wants-hand-time/>
Sessions’ office releases memo to all 94 US attorneys calling for reversal of Holder-era policy Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ office sent out a letter late Thursday to the nation’s federal prosecutors instructing them to pursue the most serious charges possible…
Untouchable Screening in Tampa – June 14th<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/untouchable-screening-tampa-june-14th/>
A screening of the documentary, Untouchable, will take place at 6:30 PM, Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at the Portico in Tampa. 1001 N. Florida Ave, Tampa, FL, 813.254.5139 We encourage everyone in the area to set a reminder to go see the film. Please feel free to invite…
They are always changing something in the registration requirements and you always have to be aware of these changes. just the slightest thing can be punishable with prison time. It is not living to live in fear that you forgot something about a change such as a phone number. You own your home with no intention of moving. Stay to yourself, and then at 9:30 in the evening you get a knock on the door and it is a sheriff checking on you. It is not right to have to live in this fear who it is on the other side of the door. Is it someone with a gun that is going to shoot through the door or is it law enforcement just checking on your residency. No one knows what will happen.