HUGE NEWS: Lawsuit Challenges Brevard County Ordinance Prohibiting People on Sex Offender Registry from Attending County Commission Meetings as Unconstitutional
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI), in partnership with Brevard County attorney Jessica J. Travis of DefendBrevard.com, filed a lawsuit challenging a Brevard County ordinance that prohibits people on the sex offender registry from attending County Commission meetings at the County Government Center in Viera, Florida. The ordinance prohibits the Plaintiffs, and all registered offenders, from being within 1000 feet of a school, daycare center, park, or playground. The County Government building is within 1000 feet of a school, and therefore the Plaintiffs are prohibited from entering the building to attend public meetings. The lawsuit alleges that this prohibition violates the Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to free speech and to petition for redress of grievances, and also violates Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law by holding a public meeting that is not fully open to the public. Plaintiffs are also seeking an immediate preliminary injunction to end enforcement of the unconstitutional ordinance so they are permitted to attend future meetings.
The Plaintiffs are Vincent Rinaldi, Charles Munsey, and Charles Violi. They are longtime residents and homeowners of Brevard County who long ago completed all aspects of their criminal sentences. They are active in civil affairs but cannot attend county government meetings and speak directly to their representatives on any topic.
“Everyone has a right to attend county government meetings and speak to their elected representatives in public,” said Ray Taseff, lead attorney with the Florida Justice Institute. “The County cannot restrict this right to an entire class of persons based on past crimes.”
The Complaint explains how the Plaintiffs were prohibited from attending a County Commission meeting to speak about a proposed law that was particularly important to them: an amendment to the ordinance that imposed even more restrictions on where registered offenders are permitted to be. In the summer of 2020, the County Commission considered and passed this amendment, and yet the people most affected by it—the Plaintiffs and all registered offenders—were not permitted to attend the meetings to offer their views. The County Commission was notified that people who would be affected wanted to be heard, but the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department had advised that attending the meeting would place registered offenders in violation of the ordinance. The County Commission passed the amended ordinance without hearing directly from one affected person at the meeting.
“This law distorts the democratic process by silencing the voices of people whom the County doesn’t like,” said Jessica J. Travis, one of the Plaintiffs’ attorneys. “But the First Amendment and the Florida Sunshine laws demand more transparency.”
Read the pleadings:
Could you please direct me to where I can find the ordinance?
BJW, if you google Brevard County Ordinance Section 74-102 you can read through it.
I’ll try to copy-paste the section that deals with main issue we’re talking about.
Better to read it in it’s entirety from the “municode” website.
Sec. 74-102. – Sexual offenders and sexual predators.
(b) Restriction of certain activities of sexual offenders and sexual predators. No sexual offender or sexual predator shall enter into or remain within the 1,000-foot buffer zone surrounding any school, daycare center, park or playground except to: (1) Attend a scheduled interview or meeting with a social service provider licensed by the state; (2) Comply with a request or court order from the judiciary, a correctional facility or a law enforcement entity; (3) Attend a scheduled meeting or interview with criminal justice personnel at a criminal justice facility; (4) Attend a bona fide educational institution as a registered student; (5) Attend a scheduled or emergency health care visit with a licensed physician; (6) As a result of fulfilling legally allowable duties imposed by gainful employment; (7) Transport children within their legal custody to and from school or daycare without any undue delay or loitering on premises; (8) Seek refuge in a public shelter that has been officially designated by the county or any municipality to house sexual offenders or sexual predators during times of impending natural disasters or acts of terrorism; (9) Attend a scheduled legal consultation meeting with an attorney who is recognized as a licensed member of the Bar of the state; (10) Attend a church service or function; (11) Vote at a designated polling place within his or her district; (12) If the sexual offender or sexual predator is the parent or guardian of a person under 18 years of age, provided the sexual offender or sexual predator has declared his or her status as a sexual offender or sexual predator prior to entering the school property and has either scheduled a set time period to enter upon the property with the principal or designee or immediately notifies the principal or designee upon entering the school property: a. Attend a scheduled conference at school with school personnel to discuss the progress of his or her child academically or socially; b. Participate in scheduled child review conferences in which evaluation and placement decisions may be made or considered with respect to his or her child regarding special education services; or c. Attend scheduled conferences to discuss other student issues concerning his or her child such as retention and promotion. (13) If the sexual offender or sexual predator lawfully resides within 1,000 feet of any school, day care center, park or playground, he or she may enter into or remain within 1,000 feet of such school, day care center, park or playground for the purposes of travel to and from his or her residence, and any other bona fide activity arising from the ordinary maintenance and activities associated with such residence.
However, this section shall not be construed as prohibiting any person from traveling on those public roads located within the county when traveling through the buffer zone without intentional delay. A law enforcement officer shall, prior to any arrest for an offense under this section afford the person an opportunity to explain his or her presence in the area and the purpose thereof. No person shall be convicted of an offense under this section if the law enforcement officer did not comply with this procedure or if it appears at trial that the explanation given by the person is true and, if believed by the officer at the time, would have authorized the person to be in the area pursuant to one of the exceptions listed above.
(c) Measurement of distance requirement for residence. For purposes of measuring separation of a residence from a school, day care center, park or playground, all distances shall be measured from the outermost property line of the parcel upon which the residence is located running in a direct line to the outermost property line of the school, day care center, park or playground. For example, if the residence were located in a generally southwesterly direction from a park, then the measurement would be from the northeast corner of the residential parcel to the southwest corner of the park. For all other purposes, measurements shall run from the outermost property line of the school, day care center, park or playground. (d) Measurement of distance requirement for sexual offender or sexual predator. For purposes of measuring separation of a person designated as a sexual offender or sexual predator from a school, day care center, park or playground, all distances shall be measured from the closest observed location of the sexual offender or sexual predator to the outermost property line of the school, day care center, park or playground using a direct line measurement. (e) Required declaration of status as a sexual offender or sexual predator. (1) During times of impending natural disasters or acts of terrorism, sexual offenders and sexual predators shall immediately identify themselves as a sexual offender or sexual predator, as the case may be, to the official in charge of any public shelter where they seek refuge. Sexual offenders or sexual predators will not be permitted to remain at general shelters not designated to house them. Sexual offenders and sexual predators will only be permitted housing at shelters specifically approved to house sexual offenders and sexual predators. (2) A sexual offender or sexual predator attending any school or transporting children they have legal custody of to a school or day care center must declare his or her status as a sexual offender or sexual predator to the school or day care center principal or designee prior to entering the school or day care center property, and must also either schedule with the principal a set time period to enter upon the property or immediately notify the principal or designee upon entering school grounds or day care center property. (3) All sexual offenders and sexual predators registered in the county shall carry their state driver’s license or state identification card on their person at all times.