Registerants address county commission after rule changed to allow them
In their statements to commissioners on Tuesday, petitioners pleaded with the commission to reverse an amendment to an ordinance passed in 2020, barring them from entering within 1,000 feet of businesses where children typically congregate.
Their comments included examples of barriers they face because of the county regulation, and the negative impact that is having for their families and other loved ones.
The attendance of the registered sex offenders at Tuesday’s meeting was made possible because commissioners modified a section of the county code in March that prohibited those on the sex offender registry list from entering the Brevard County Government Center in Viera. The regulation, passed in 2006, bars someone on the list from occupying a space within 1,000 feet of a school or a recreation area.
Registered offenders, with the Florida Justice Institute acting on their behalf, filed a lawsuit, claiming the 2006 rule violated their freedom of speech rights and hindered them from seeking redress from their government.
For those wanting to know more about Tobia:
https://www.facebook.com/Floridatoday/posts/brevard-county-commissioner-john-tobias-relationship-with-matt-gaetz-went-beyond/10158932814785937/
Tobia’s relationship with Matt Gaetz was more than just being a roommate. According to Florida Today’s Facebook post, Tobia’s name was often associated with Gaetz socially and politically. “Tobia was…the go-to source for journalists looking for background on the congressmen.”
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-matt-gaetz-revenge-porn-20210405-5qbme6ilzna3rhry6gzqeevwpq-story.html
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the nonconsensual porn legislation passed in 2015 with a vote of 114 to 2 in the Florida House, The two nays were Gaetz and Tobia. Gaetz said that if someone sends an intimate image to you, then that image becomes your property to use in any manner you so choose. Does Tobia’s nay vote mean that he agrees? Not for me to say.
As a Brevard County Commissioner, Tobia tries to come across as the savior for all victims. Maybe he is. But then why would he vote against a bill that would have protected would-be victims of revenge porn, etc.?
Took a minute or two to send this to the commissioners (see below). Thank you to those that spoke and displayed more courage than all five of them put together. Great job!
As county commissioners, I respect your titles and as human beings, I respect your opinions. I humbly ask that you recognize that the majority of registered citizens do not claim to be victims, and certainly do not disregard the victims within their individual circumstances.
Every person will view this particular subject matter through different lenses that have been crafted from different life experiences, opinions, and facts. As elected officials for the county of Brevard, your leadership as an elected official should always be done through objective facts and not subjective feelings.
No human being in their sane mind would disagree with any proposition that does not align with the safety of children or the safety of the general public. Why then would this commission push to enact laws and ordinances that are contrary to public safety? I encourage the board to examine the research on how these laws affect family members (including children) of those that have been stigmatized in society.
Contrary to the board’s statements of distrust towards those convicted of offenses, it is important to realize that many offenses are not predatory in nature and are, in fact, a single mistake that has been met with unforgivable punishment. Society continues to be led by myths implied by the board that 1) only the worst of the worst are offenders, 2) they are never to be trusted, and 3) continued punishment (in the form of laws) must be maintained to keep them from reoffending. In actuality, over 90% of sex offenses are committed by someone that is not registered, therefore, our focus should be on awareness, education, and notification before an offense takes place; if we truly are looking out for the safety of everyone. I respectfully ask that you examine this topic from all perspectives, including those citizens that exhibited the courage to speak out in a public forum.
Commissioner Tobia, your complete disregard for human life is evident through your pompous dismissal of human beings, disconcerting posture, and the segregation of an entire group possibly based upon a single pothole in one’s life. Please understand that there is a less than 10% recidivism rate in all sex offense cases. Legislation has been extremely off in the past (reference any legislation relating to the Civil Rights pre-1964), so quoting a stance from the state without formulating a view based on factual data is ill-considered.
My humble prayer for all our leaders, whether local, state, or federal, to recognize that staying strong on the stance of public safety (including all children) is an expected and admirable goal, add to it your ability to see that single mistakes occur and registrants are not cursed with the incurable stigma similar to what alcoholics once endured.
My sincere apologies that any of you were even considered in the same category as a homicidal genocidal maniac such as Adolf Hitler. I believe that statement is towards all legislation that continues to brand and mark individuals until death.
I understand that as a non-constituent to your district, county, and even state that your time is not warranted to the reading of this email, therefore, if you have read it this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart from a registrant of the state of Florida, now a resident in the state of Texas. I am not a victim, I’m just pressing on to help create a better society for my wife and 9-month-old daughter as we face its uncertainties together as one family.
If you wish to have any further dialogue on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact me. If not, please accept these words as humbly and respectfully as the text will allow them to be read.
With Love and In Him,
I’m not an registrant myself so forgive me if this seems like presumptuous advice. But it seems to me that you all need to stop answering their insincere, sarcastic question ‘Do you consider yourself a victim?’ by abjectly insisting “Of course not!” A better answer would be “Insofar as I am being punished by ordinances that hide behind the false cover of regulatory law, you’re damn right I am!”
I know even most non-RSOs don’t like anything that sounds like self-pity, but think about it. If someone walked up in the meeting and shot you in the chest would you not be able to admit you are a victim of that? Are the commissioners so stupid that they can’t be made to understand that victimhood is not a static quantity? And even if they are, should we confirm them in their stupidity?
I would’ve told the commissioners all the above, and more: that if prostituting for votes and publicity instead of money were a sex crime, they’d all be registered.
That’s a great response! I agree with what you’re suggesting, however, politicians are a tricky bunch. There’s a fine line to walk with politicians between pandering and truth giving. I believe that if a message is not communicated showing some degree of love, it will be received as banging pots and pans (which will never be heard). I think assertiveness is appropriate, but when it’s from registrants, treated as aggressiveness, hence the entire need for advocacy groups such as FAC.
Yes, I agree with you that our side has to go the extra mile when it comes to trying to dispel honest suspicion and meet honest disagreement with a reasonable exchange of views. There’s a time for turning the other cheek. But not every time. Once they make clear they see registrants as opponents and want to tag them as such for their own advantage, and resort to dishonest rhetoric, it’s time for a bit more bluntness.
Very few people like bullies like those commissioners when that is what they are clearly shown to be. But they also want to see that people are willing to fight back a bit when being nice just provokes further insults.
The commissioners that spoke were all appalled at the comment of the comparison and treatment of minorities under Hitler to what is being done to registered citizens. ( the term which they also took issue with) If you were a German in Germany between 1933 and 1945 the people whole heartedly supported Hitler and Heiled him as there savior. Like wise today those who have been miss informed heil registry laws as a savior of children. Neither could be further from truth. Yet people were and still are willing to die to support a lie. Like the young man 18 who shot and killed 10 people,why because he firmly believed a lie.
It’s not the registry that we are fighting ,it’s lies which are much harder to overcome.
The Bible calls Satan the father of a lie. The first lie ever to be told was in the garden of Eden. That original lier is still doing his thing
Since he is more powerful than us we have a hard fight and I don’t know if we are winning or not but we have to try.
I watched the video on YouTube. Great job to the speakers. I always wonder what it looks like when these things are challenged. This reinforces what I say often when discussing sorna, let’s stop making emotional decisions and look at facts. Mr Tobia reflects the suspected view of normal citizens, that all restrictions are punishment and should remain or be worsened.
Please tell me somebody is challenging that Tobia creep in the next election.
It was disheartening to hear the commissioners blow off petitioners as predators and claiming to “be on the side of children.” People say that with malice in their eyes to excuse hate towards a group of people. I hope that these mis-representatives leave office…through whatever means…