Pennsylvania tourist to stay on Florida’s sex-offender registry
A Leon circuit judge has dismissed a Pennsylvania man’s challenge to a Florida law that kept him on a sexual-offender registry after a 10-day family vacation to Disney World in 2015.
Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey dismissed the case last week, in part finding that a statute of limitations had expired. The man, identified in court documents as John Doe, reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office when he came to Florida because he was on a Pennsylvania registry at the time as a result of a child-pornography conviction in 2002.
Doe was removed from the Pennsylvania registry in 2016 but remained registered as a sex offender in Florida, according to a lawsuit filed in 2020.
The lawsuit, which named Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen as a defendant, contended that the Florida law violated his constitutional privacy and due-process rights.
But attorneys for the state argued, in part, that the lawsuit was filed after a four-year statute of limitations had expired.
That is because Doe registered as a sex offender in Florida in 2015 but didn’t file the lawsuit until 2020.
Is this the same issue for which we present oral arguments next month?
It is not – that’s the EPF I challenge.
This was an out of state challenge. People have asked whatever happened with our… While this isn’t our case, we were waiting for this decision to see how to move forward. The Statute of Limitations issue has been used to knock out several cases and because McGroarty and Huff were both appealed and lost in the 11th Circuit, unfortunately that’s a precedent we are stuck with. So, the plaintiff would have to be here on vacation, leave and file their lawsuit within 4 years. The Case in the NDFL they even tried to argue that someone that left less than 4 years ago was barred because he was added more than 4 years ago and should have predicted when he became registered that he would eventually move out of Florida and sue then.
So I have until March 2023 to file litigation against the state.
In my case, I wasn’t there on vacation. I was kidnapped, trafficked across state lines, and held for ransom.
I was rethinking this case…it seems all John Doe would need to do is come back to Florida and re-register. That would seemingly trigger a new statute of limitations period because Florida is not his home state. There was a recent ruling out of Jackson County, Indiana, wherein the PFR was on their registry for ten years and he moved out of state for a brief while and returned to Indiana. Upon his return, Indiana arrested him for failing to register even tho he maxed out his ten year obligation. The man won his case and the Indiana Attorney General appealed. It’s now in their court of appeals. So, it seems that coming back to a state does trigger a new registration requirement. Or dies it? Maybe, maybe not in Indiana and maybe or maybe not in Florida
from what I remember back in the early days of the registry and thinking on times now it was” if your on the registry and timed out, yet still on another state registry your required to report to the state of your residence.
always wondered about this
cause if you off in 1 state and on another states registry….
If you got pulled over and NCIC checks you will be arrested for failure to register very gray area and a LEOs happiness just to fj you even more
dont quote me this
I would of been worried about it
I’m sorry,if was me and I went to Florida for just 10 days, I wouldn’t even bother reporting to anyone. The heck with that crap. My sister has a vacation home down there, and my nephew lives down there as well, I’ve never been to Florida, but if I ever did go the last thing I would do is report to another state of I was only going to be there for a handful of days. Just wouldn’t and won’t do it.
Bobby S.
I agree with you. .though your are taking a big risk…
but how can LEOs Prove you been there more then 24 hrs?
still a gray area
and again this as well a big issue for ppl who termed out but still registered in another state
I guess my question is – how is the statute of limitations up when he’s STILL on the registry? Seems to me that is a present situation, not a past situation.
Good point….
Hmmmm…. Then 4 years after your initial arrest they should not be able to enhance your sentence and/or plea arrangement. Statue of limitations cannot be a 1 sided thing.
A proactive registered citizen
you just nailed the registry with that comment “how can they?”
” they should not be able to enhance your sentence and/or plea arrangement. ”
now I’m beginning to wonder if the statue of limitations is up, what about ppl who was on the registry in the very beginning keep getting new rules tossed at them ..
could make for a good argument flipping it around on the state/government
state claims statue of Limitations ended for getting off how about the statue of limitations for added punishment
Isnt that the Ex Post Facto argument, or is the statute of limitation flipping different?
Experenced
Silly person
Don’t you know the rules only apply to us. The control freaks and cartels in the Government have an answer for everything. And unlike other people who are suppressed, there is zero sympathy from the public for what is happening to us.
The public, judges, lawmakers, news and everyone would basically be happy if we were all sent off to the moon. When I was sentenced, the judge was not professional at all. She was calling me names, saying what she hoped would happen to me in prison and sentenced me to more than the guidelines. She was full of emotion and my lawyer did nothing to bring this up. It took several years of appeals to finally get the remainder of my illegal sentence thrown out.
The powers that be go un-checked when it comes to sex offenses. The only group I can even compare to us is the inmates locked up without a trial or any release date who are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Am I saying they are good or bad people? I do not know any of them but everyone deserves at least a hearing.
The old saying “Walk a mile in my shoes” is an eye opening statement. I thought the movie we watched about us would do just that, instead it only focused on people who seemed to agree that they could never be fixed and would always be a danger to the public. Then we are all thrown into the same cage.
CherokeeJack
lol I knew that was coming!!!!! b4 I posted it
on a serious side now lets say a person timed out in his own state…
but still on another states registry and that person who is NOT on Florida’s registry goes to Florida for Vacation gets pulled over.
they find the state you are still registered in the other state though you timed out in your home state…
seems to me your fked… AGAIN now your fighting 2 states and a FTR in Florida and prison sentence to boot! seems to me its a double edge sward
We must remember that the registry is not officially considered to be punishment, put as a civil regulatory measure. So even retroactive changes do not enhance a person’s punishment or plea arrangement. Until the registry is considered punishment, arguments such as ex post facto will fail. The cases that have succeeded did so because the court determined specific provisions to be punishment, e.g. Michigan. Punishment for a crime can be applied only by the judicial branch. Since the registry is not considered punishment or part of a criminal sentence, legislatures can change requirements on a whim.
When moving to a new state, that state’s laws apply. This means that even if someone was taken off the registry in his home state, moving to or even visiting another state could land you on the registry again. In my state, the term “sex offender” refers to someone who “has been convicted” of a sex offense. So moving to a new state could restart registration requirements or extend time limits. This is considered ok because the registry is not part of judicial punishment, but more akin to speed limits which can change from state to state and from time to time.
Please don’t flame me. I disagree with the registry/punishment status quo.
This exactly my thoughts on this. And how did the statute of limitations limit the ex-post facto challenge. In Brown vs Board of Education, they did not claim a statute of limitations was going to prevent civil rights protections. The civil rights violations had been going on for 100’s of years. The civil rights violations were continuing in the present, not when they first started. Likewise with the registry.
The ongoing civil rights violations taking place today have to trump any statute of limitation.
And again. If I’d only had been able to see into the future back in 1994 and know the state would add all these restrictions in the future I could have filed my appeal. I’m sure that would have worked out great. Um yes your honor. I predict the state will continue to add punshishment to me in the future so can you take me off now.
Yes, it’s like changing the rules in the middle of a ball game whenever it’s to your advantage. They can go back 30 yrs. To find something to put you on the registry for but you have to act within 4 yrs. To undo there constantly changing laws against you.
Guess we all need to put up tents outside city hall to get updates on all there fickle qualms . One day you wake up and they’ve thrown a whole new batch of punishment and obstacles for you to try an maneuver through. Insanity on steroids.
Also thank you FAC for the information on the laws from each state. I found out that I could apply to be removed from the registry in Missouri, but the process includes over 25 separate steps and details that have to be meticulously followed . One being having to find and notify the victims and get confirmation of it. Which in itself would be a very lengthy process. Not to mention that the so called victims whom I never had any contact with probably never knew anything about my charges in the first place. All the knew was an officer talked to them and one of them for attention made up some kind of a story. I was never able to find out what that was.
To make it even more difficult the regulations state that the petition shall be dismissed without prejudice if anything is left out.
Much of the information they want is impossible for the average person to find out.
Well, it has now ben three years since I ws first listed on FloriDUH’s registry so if anyone is planning on taking my case it seems I now have about a year to file litigation.
In Gardei v. Conway, No. S21G0430 (Ga. 2022), a lawsuit against lifetime SOR allowed to proceed over State claims it violates statutes-of-limitation claims (Gardei first registered in 2009) because each period of registration constitutes a new injury. I know that’s Georgia, not FloriDUH, but there might be something in this case that might be helpful in appealing this ruling.
Derek, maybe the lawyer who represents this John Doe can help you since they now have this ruling. Seems hard for the State to argue statute of limitations defense in your case.
I would hope that the SCOTUS ruling the other day against malicious prosecution might help you. I also hope that you can find a lawyer willing to file beforehand. Best of luck to you.