Weekly Update 2018-02-06Florida Sex Offender News

Weekly Update 2018-02-06

Dear Members and Advocates,

In last week’s update, we described a “tug of war” between the legislative and judicial branches of our government. We seem to find relief in the courts, but the legislators keep loading up horrible bills.

Well, last week, Federal Judge Mark Walker of the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida grabbed the rope and gave it such a hard tug that you could practically hear Governor Rick Scott face plant in the mud! In a strongly worded order issued Thursday, Judge Walker took back our State from biased and partisan politicians by declaring Florida’s procedure for restoring voting rights to felons unconstitutional.

Florida is one of only a handful of states that permanently disenfranchises felons, but the worst state when it comes to restoration of voting rights. The system is arbitrary, takes forever, and the decision is subject to the whim of one guy; Governor Scott. If you’re not politically connected or support the same views as him, chances are you had nothing coming to you! That is, until Judge Walker exhibited the courage to do the right thing. Now both sides have until next week to come up with a plan to fix the mess. We will keep you informed.

Also this past week, another good decision came out of the Illinois Appellate Court, where lifetime registration was deemed “grossly disproportionate” for a 21 year old first time offender involved in a Romeo and Juliet relationship. The significance of the opinion is that it recognized two significant problems. First; the registry today, is dramatically different from the registry of years past, when precedential decisions were decided. Second; that the registry is not only targeting the “dangerous ones” who are high risk to re-offend, but people who the court recognized are “simply not the person at whom the sex offender statutes’ purposes are aimed.”

The acknowledgement of both these problems support the arguments that the decisions from a decade ago (ex: Smith v. Doe and its progeny) do not reflect the current state of the registry and that the sex offender net has been cast far too wide and what’s being caught up in it is not what was intended. Decisions such as this one are becoming more prevalent in the courts and will undoubtedly serve as persuasive in our Ex Post Facto lawsuit and other challenges.

Finally, we want to remind everyone of our CALL TO ACTION, asking that members call their legislators, asking them to oppose HB 1301 and SB 1226. Those bills, among other things, would reduce the number of days that constitutes a permanent or temporary residence to THREE (3) days, instead of the current FIVE (5) days. Please call your legislator and tell them to VOTE NO to this HORRIBLE Bill. For more information on the Call to Action visit: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/urgent-call-to-action-florida-wants-to-reduce-registration-period-to-3-days/

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee
REMINDER: New Member Orientation Call this Thursday Feb 8th at 8pm.  Whether you are a new member or a seasoned, educated member, you are welcome to join the call to ask questions and learn more about being an effective member of FAC.

SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK

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