Orlando Sentinel: I'm an ex-sex offender. Florida should use fact, not emotion, to write laws.
Today, Captain Bob Munsey, who is a contributor to the Orlando Sentinel and happens to be a registered citizen, had an Opinion piece featured in the Sentinel (article appears below).
Captain Munsey enlisted in the Naval Air Reserve in 1962 and received a presidential appointment to the US Naval Academy from President Kennedy (one of only one hundred nationwide). He retired as a Naval Captain, after twenty-nine (29) years of service to our country. Even in retirement, he continues to serve the country and his community through volunteer work for countless organizations.
He bravely fought for the citizens of our country during his accomplished tenure in the military and he continues to fight for the constitutional rights of ALL citizens today by very bravely standing up and speaking out! One misstep, almost 20 years ago, in a life that is otherwise so accomplished should not resign a decorated veteran to be a second class citizen!
We salute you Captain Munsey!
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No matter how a person may have corrected his or her actions and paid for failures, in the state of Florida, it’s “once a felon, always a felon.” What is such a policy as this supposed to solve?
On a recent evening I listened in on a Reform Sex Offender Laws Inc. conference call about sex-offender registries, whose effectiveness increasingly is being called into question.
It has been proved that isolation and disenfranchisement only contributes to recidivism. And when evidence is not based on emotion but facts and statistics, sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rates of any felonies — despite efforts by legislators to keep them out of their homes, their families, their communities and the job market.
Don’t get me wrong: There are some offenders who are dangerous. If released to society, they need to be in a registry and monitored. But that applies only to about 10 percent of sex offenders.
Great article. Wishful thinking. Until it is in politicians, judges, and lawyers best interest (money and power) to change these laws, I can almost guarantee that nothing is going to change! When it is financially feasible for lawyers to stand up and challenge ordinances and laws, they won’t do it. Until politicians think this will benefit them politically or with the public, they won’t care to change anything. Money and power, power and money. That’s what it’s all about.
MJ,
you are 100% correct, just like the ACLU for years they shy away from SO stuff (most likely fear of loss of donations). and now they are slowly coming out of the wood work a lot of times backing, co-council of legal challenges most likely to keep their name out of the forefront but at least they are starting to finally get involved!
ACLU is MAIN counsel on our SORR challenge. Not only ACLU of Florida, but ACLU National. They could not be more visibly supporting us if they erected a billboard.
Believe me, nobody supports sexual offending. Not the ACLU and not FAC. Both organizations expressly condemn it. But both the ACLU and FAC also condemn trampling on people’s civil and constitutional rights, especially long after they have paid their debt to society.
A civilized country does not persecute its citizens under the guise of a “civil, non-punitive” ordinance which causes 250+ people to sleep homeless in inhumane conditions. The ACLU protects religious rights, rights of the LGBT community and even our right to publicly express the opinions we are sharing in this comment board.
Anyone who does not support the ACLU better hope that one day someone doesn’t have it out for “their kind” whatever that “kind” might be, because there will be nobody to stand up for them.
Anyone (not directed at anyone in this chat thread) who does not support FAC in our fight has no right to bitch and complain about what’s being done to them. It’s your own fault!
Our SORR Challenge was filed in 2014 and we’re beginning to get traction now. It sucks that it takes so long and that it took an appeal, but nobody is coming out of the wood works just now. We’ve all been busting our asses for years.
Our Internet Identifier challenge took forever to fund and if not for a handful of people who donated, it would never have happened! Everyone reading this should be saying a special prayer or whatever you do to be grateful to those who donated to get that thing launched, because if not for them; FDLE would be bending us over right now!
Bob Munsey is a hero on so many levels; for his contribution to defending our country for three decades, for allowing his name to be put on the sacrificial whipping post, and for being here for our organization since day one.
To get to the point; politicians (in general – there may be a few) and the general public will NEVER support us. We have a few organizations and we have ourselves. Unless we stand up and do it for ourselves, nothing will change. The same people who’ve been fighting for years are still fighting. Nobody new. It’s the individuals who are affected by the laws who are coming out of the woodworks and beginning to start doing something.
fac-admin,
3 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago how many times has the ACLU been the lead Plaintiff in SO suits? i may be wrong but i think Janice B. in CA> is part of the ACLU or they provide her office space. the point i’m making is i often see other names in the press about challenge’s then when you look at the filed documents you often seen ACLU’s name there but not in the Press release. for example: FCAT files Suit over miami/dade county ….. is what i usually see and not ACLU files suit although the ACLU is very much involved. in the past year or so I’m starting to see ACLU files suit. that is what i meant by coming out of the wood work.
PS. I’m on SSD thanks to a drunk driver and i’m on limited income doing what i can to live and i have in the past sent in donation to FCAT so those who read this even if you only donate $5.00 – $20.00 – $200.00 – $2,000.00 – $20,000.00 every little bit helps!!!! so please consider donating something/anything to FCAT a few $$ will but paper, etc… every little bit helps!
ACLU can’t be named in a suit because they have no standing to serve as Plaintiff.
Janice B in California is an attorney. There are two attorneys on the board of California’s advocacy group.
FAC does not have an in-house attorney. We would welcome one to join, but currently don’t have one and we therefore rely on legal aid organizations, the ACLU and member contributions to fund outside attorneys. The ACLU has stepped up in a BIG way for our organization! As has the Florida Institutional Legal Services Project of Legal Aid and Florida Justice Institute. The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys donated money to our Internet Identifier challenge.
There are a lot of organizations who have stepped up for us and we are grateful.
Nicely put, and thanks for all you do!
Great article! Way to get the word out.
What a great piece! With guys like this weighing in on the fallacies of the registration system, and the fear-based laws in Florida, there is hope for change.
Just like Captain Munsey, my military service means nothing now. Another consequence of being on the registry is denial of access to military installations. And yes, this includes veterans and even retirees.
Thank you Captain Munsey, you are even more of a hero on top of your military service because of your bravery to stand up for what’s right and to speak the truth. The vast majority of registered sex offenders are not repeat offenders, and many of those have never had any other involvement with law enforcement in their lives outside of the charge that got them on the registry. Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought Florida’s law states that even if a RSO is removed from the registry in another state (the state of offense), Florida will not remove them from theirs no matter what any other state is doing – did I read that wrong?
I am a blind male put on the registry over 20 years ago and I am moving to Orlando in a few weeks. What do I need to do to get legal therre? Any help would be appreciated.
Tony, Please reach out to anita@floridaactioncommittee.org, who coordinates membership. She can offer some guidance and POSSIBLY connect you with a member in the area who could volunteer to help you with the logistics.
Within 48 hours of establishing a permanent, temporary or transient address (ie: no matter where you stay), you will need to report to the Sheriff’s office in Orange County.
They are located at: Orange County Sheriff’s Office, 2500 W Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32804 and are open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday By Appointment Only 8:00am-4:00pm
Their number is 407-254-7000.
You will then ALSO, need to report to the local DMV to get a drivers license (or ID) with the designation stamped on it. There are several DMV offices, you should find the one local to you here: http://www.flhsmv.gov/locations/orange/
As far as finding housing. You should check the Orange County ordinance, as well as the city in which you will live (ie: Orlando) to see what ordinances they have with regard to residency restrictions. Because your offense is over 20 years ago, it’s unlikely you would qualify for the State restriction, but we are not licensed nor qualified to offer a legal opinion on that. Also, because it’s been 20 years, you are likely not on probation, but if you are, you should consult with your PO for any conditions they may impose.
You will need to keep going back to the registration office to report changes in residence, vehicles owned, travel, places of employment, education or volunteering. You will need to report phone numbers and “internet identifiers”, also, but those can be done through the online portal. That’s on top of the semi-annual or quarterly in-person registrations you have to do.