National Sex Offender Legislation Updates and a Hurricane
Weekly Update 2017-09-05
Dear Members and Advocates,
There is a lot to update this week, so we will get right to it…
Two MAJOR decisions came out within the past week. In Colorado, a federal Judge not only declared the Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act unconstitutional, but went much further and declared it was “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”. In Indiana, an appellate court found a law preventing a parent from entering his child’s school unconstitutional. This court too didn’t just stop there, but called the disability “neither minor nor indirect” and also confirmed the law is punishment!
These two decisions, although not binding on registrants in Florida, are significant persuasive precedence for when our own case proceeds AND, as with several other recent decisions, represent a shifting trend in courts across the country finally finding that Sex Offender Registration is punishment.
As much as we would love to elaborate on these two exciting decisions, we have another MAJOR advisory to share this week. As of the time of this writing, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 Hurricane, is projected to hit Florida. Since our population is prohibited from most emergency shelters and disproportionately homeless, we cannot wait for the last minute to plan. We have posted an Information exchange on our website (https://floridaactioncommittee.org/hurricane-irma-information-exchange/) and kindly ask for volunteers to contact their Probation offices, Sheriff’s Offices and Emergency Management Offices to determine what provisions have been made for registrants, and then share that information at the above link.
We have enjoyed the benefit of a strong network of volunteers and the infrastructure to compile and disseminate information quickly. With a natural disaster approaching, it is more important than ever that we mobilize ourselves quickly, so if you are receiving this email, please take a few moments to see if information on your county has been posted and, if not, collect and post it.
Relish in the good news from Colorado and Indiana, and please stay safe this week!
Next Monthly Membership call is this Thursday September 7 at 8pm. Join us, share the phone number with a friend, family member, or reach out to another Registered Citizen. With Unity Comes Change.
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
CO: Federal Court Finds Registry “Cruel and Unusual”
A HUGE win out of Colorado, where a Federal Judge declared the Sex Offender Registry to be “cruel and unusual” punishment. In his ruling, which can be read HERE, he opined that the sex offender registry gives the public the “power to inflict punishments beyond those…
Indiana Court Rules School Ban for Parents Unconstitutional
In another big win yesterday, an Indiana appellate Court determined that a law banning sex offenders from schools is Unconstitutional as applied to parents of children attending that school whose cases pre-date the law. The Judge’s order found that restricting the…
FAC Letter to Miami-Dade Commissioners
Earlier this week, the Florida Action Committee sent a letter to the County Commissioners for Miami-Dade County, requesting the repeal of the sex offender residency restriction that has caused over 250 individuals to live in squalor, without shelter or sanitation…
CA: Bill to reduce names on California’s sex offender registry shelved
FAC NOTE: The article below is just more proof that we have nothing coming to us if we count on the legislators. Also note the idiotic reason; “it would cost tens of millions of dollars to make the change”. Really?!?! How about the tens of millions of dollars it costs…