Sex Offender Registry Requirements Leave Some Facing Stark Choices As Coronavirus Risks Grow
A patchwork approach to the nation’s sex offense registry laws is leaving many of the 900,000 people on the country’s registries with a stark choice as COVID-19 sweeps the country: risk their lives or risk their freedom.
The situation is similar in Florida. A spokesperson for the Florida Action Committee, which advocates for changes to the state’s registry laws, said his organization is getting “dozens of calls a day” from registrants who are both confused and afraid of being penalized because of a situation far outside their control.
NO ONE should have to risk their lives because of this BULLSHIT!
FAC
Thank You so much for this update!
I had to check in 2days ago . I’m 20 miles from the police station where I have to check in. They gave me no notice as to what I was to do even though I’m the easiest person in the world for them to get ahold of . They have my phone # e-mail address ,home address ,text # all contact information. They made no attempt to contact me ,just put a sign on the door of the police station for registries to do there check ins by e-mail or by phone. Every department just makes up there own rules and handles it as they please. As if it was just a hamburger discount coupon. (This is Missouri)
I can share my personal experience up here in Michigan. Went to update in person on April 1st at the local sheriff department. I was informed that they aren’t doing updating now because of the state’s lockdown. Also that since the courts are closed, the federal case ordering changes in Michigan’s registry law are on hold. They did give me a memo stating that there will be no enforcement actions taken against those whose crimes were prior to 2011, and it advised to call them May 1st to see what to do. State Police were ordered by the federal judge to draft a letter to registrants, but I haven’t received that either. Sadly, that means I have no real proof that I showed up in person as required. A truly rotten situation on top of this health crisis.
@Gerald…if you need something on paper, there is a copy of the state’s memo over on the NARSOL website under one of their articles about Michigan. It states that there is to be no enforcement against pre 2011 persons forced to register. You will not receive a letter from the state police until the final order of judgement is entered….which from all accounts might not be until 6 months from now give or take…
I live in Orange county Orlando Florida and April is my registration month. the sheriff deputy came at 5 a.m. to verify my address .. he just stayed in the car and told me to come to front door which I did. I then called the sheriff’s office to see if registration was still open for in-person they said yes. I went down there about 11 a.m. there were five people waiting outside each of us standing of course 6 feet apart, they called us in one at a time , took about an hour or so and I was done. much better than risking a felony … Though I would have rather just stay inside and done it on the phone.
Hopefully we won’t be dealing with the virus come my next time in October.
Lake County informed all registrants that their registrations would be via call-in to the registration office and provided the phone number. I called to verify and that is correct. No in-person registrations in Lake County until this virus is all clear.
Unfortunately as far as I understand it, and if anyone knows different please correct me, in Florida, the requirement to report in person is a state statute that can only be overridden by an executive order from the governor
Ron DeSantis still has not even acknowledged the communication from FAC and the Florida ACLU, right?
Correct – there has been no response or acknowledgement. We are not holding our breath.
FCK it at this point if they want to treat us as lepers lets act like lepers
lets register in person and cough all over everyone
if we contract the disease immediately start a lawsuit or if enough of us get it a class action lawsuit and lets get down to the only level they understand “Money”
I agree with that sentiment. However, knowing the spiteful and retaliatory nature of any government entity within the U.S.A, they’d charge you with attempted murder for doing that, especially if you were showing symptoms.
That’s stupid I know your venting but that shit could get back to our family’s baby’s and parents and anyone else. Went to taco bell tonight…no gloves no mask no shield like they don’t even know what’s going on. In stores you have workers wearing gloves like that’s not on the gloves the proper way would be 1 pair of gloves each sale run the money through ultra violet lights or something another carrying the food another making it with mask I mean it’s bs virus don’t enter your hands what a joke no one knows what todo. Now instead of diapers in the parking lot there are gloves those people know but they should have garbage can available. My advice if you get take out if you really have to hear that crap in the microwave before you eat it. Does it work who knows but America’s open for business. Stores should have call in and internet orders only exposing their workers but then those workers go home baby’s and old people. I don’t think this shit is going away like this were buying time. And next year if this is seasonal then what? maybe life changes we all take off a couple months a year but what we’re doing in my small mind I think is buying time. We’ll see but the comment above is stupid and doesn’t reflect everyone on here opinion.
Thank you, FAC spokesperson!
Helped them put out an amazing (and infuriating) article.
The part about Michigan confuses me. They are well past a deadline that starts the clock for a Federal injunction against their registry. And state police (according to a NARSOL call) have begun treating the injunction as if it’s already in place.
Yet now, according to the article, Michigan has returned to requiring 40,000 in-person registrations?
Am I the only one here who recalls a breakthrough Federal ruling on Michigan from two months ago?
No, it’s very much in mind. I’m not certain but I don’t think the time has expired on that yet.
They memo regarding pre-2011 registrants not having to register still stands. The state did not revise that memo to make those register again. I’m not sure where the article got its information, but I live in Michigan and I’m pre-2011. The state police will NOT register you if the offense is before 2011
The clock does not expire for Michigan until sometime in May. However, don’t be surprised if the state has quietly asked for a nice extension due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
@ Jacob:
Guessing they haven’t purged their registry of those who have been ordered removed yet, and it probably didn’t come up when the reporter spoke with them.
@Jacob….the deadline was extended by 17 days from the original March 13th deadline. In light of the COVID 19 pandemic both sides agreed to submit proposals this last Monday and the judge would make a temporary interim ruling for the duration of the crisis. The state/ACLU have 14 days from the end of the crisis to submit the permanent order of judgement which would then set the clock ticking…..the state basically caught a major break….by the way the state’s proposal sucked ass…they basically said it was too dangerous to have all 40,000 of us running around unsupervised. The state police are no longer enforcing verification/registration on pre 2011 registrants or collecting the $50 fee..
This should be a legal no-brainer. Longstanding precedent says that when laws conflict or under circumstances that puts different laws in conflict, the conflict is resolved against the government. A person cannot be placed in a position where he has to break one law to comply with another.
What I find a shame is that someone is going to have to be incarcerated for this for some court – an appellate court in all likelihood – for several years minimum for that court to come to the same conclusion that courts have been coming to for as long as there has been a court system regarding conflicting laws.
Yes, I know that self-quarantine is not law. It’s an executive order, which has the force of law and carries its own distinctive penalties. The same logic applies.
You’re right about conflicting laws being resolved in favor of the citizen, but may I point out that this sound line of reasoning is most likely just like everything else…EXCEPT FOR “SEX OFFENDERS”. In the case of HUMANS FORCED TO REGISTER the conflict will most likely always be resolved to the detriment of those forced to register.
You can always call FDLE an ask questions. That’s what I usually do. If they get inundated with calls regarding the same subject, they’ll probably issue a press release or take actions to remedy an issue. It’s kinda like having an issue with a restaurant or store: If they’re not aware of the problem, they have no idea they have a problem to address in the first place, so your problem won’t get solved. Obviously, what would ultimately solve 99% of our day to day problems would be abolishing the registry, but realistically, during a nationwide crisis, there may be some concessions that can be made from the top. Maybe now is the time for us to collectively address the Department of Justice, since they are the ultimate controlling body of this whole debacle of misinformation.
Did that and they sent me right back to the sheriff I was asking questions about. That didn’t work for my current situation but yes FDLE is very good about helping out and should be recognized for their efforts to help us and not lock us back up again
Seminole County (FL) held a presser today discussing some 169 confirmed COVID 19 cases and their requirements for infected people to stay home. Part of that presser was a complaint by county officials who said the infected people are under LE watch via a Sheriff’s intelligence unit but that some of those infected people are noncompliant. Well, now they know how we feel being under LE surveillance or registry requirements. We face this type of LE activity every day, some of us for decades past.
Don’t expect anything from DeSatanist. Remember his October 24, 2018 debate with Gillum? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRjRreOomWE
Listen very carefully between 34:12 and 34:42. Of all the hypothetical crimes he could have mentioned, guess what he brought up?
[Drops the mic]
Correction! I hope every human forced to register who sickened with Covid-19 as a result of being forced to violate standing shelter in place orders and can prove it sues the state for deliberate indifference or if the person forced to register dies along with their immediate household, the next of kin would sue the state for acting in bad faith and with depraved indifference.
Even better, we can amend our EXISTING suit against the state because of this. No new suits necessary!
I register this month in Polk jail I’m like do I go now or hope a law is past. They could easily have a car that comes to your house window closed and you talk on your phone to the officer. The guy who used to check on me said he’d have them all done in 3 days How much longer would it take. Plus the officers doing it are safe one less person to go home catch that crap somehow and return to the office. This is the way they should do it anyway making me leave my house drive there now n my time give them info I was never told I’d have todo 23 years ago is a folly of the justice system.
Registering is essential element of keeping the courts full and family’s fed.
Mike Chitwood now wants to make a list of addresses of those who test positive for COVID-19. He is quoted as saying, “We’re not asking for names and we’re not putting signs on front yards, and we’re not publishing a list, but it’s important for our deputies to know if they’re responding to a call from someone who has been quarantined.”
Not a surprising action coming from this man.
The full article:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tested-positive-coronavirus-health-workers-may-share-your-address-police-n1178696
I know I gonna get back lash on this but maybe they should make a list of address of those affected Let them endure the leper status and being treated lower than dirt.
Chitwood is a force to be dealt with. I just checked out this article. I noticed that there were no comments in the Comment Section. I can understand why — I am afraid of this guy and he is supposed to be protecting people.
In the article posted here by James, the following is an excerpt:
Mike Chitwood, the sheriff of Volusia County, Florida, said he had to browbeat his local health department, in Facebook posts and interviews with the local press, to give his agency addresses of people who had tested positive. The updated lists are sent to his agency nightly.
On his Facebook page, he has posted the following:
Good evening Volusia County: Tonight we flagged 5 new addresses that are being monitored for coronavirus,
Right now, we’re not getting enough information to make informed decisions that protect ourselves and the public.
We need more testing and we need more information. I’m calling for our health leaders to step up to the challenge and provide us a daily, comprehensive list of addresses that have tested positive for coronavirus or are under self quarantine.
It’s a simple solution that will save lives and slow the spread. That’s our mission and we have to be laser focused on it.
In an Orlando local news report, the following was written:
Volusia Sheriff: Florida Department of Health is putting first responders at risk.
‘If you don’t protect us, when people call 911, nobody’s coming,’ Sheriff Chitwood says.
The sheriff said despite some backlash, he’ll continue to post all information he receives about possible and confirmed cases, until everyone gets on board.
Is this a sheriff in the United States of America?
This may cause people to avoid getting tested. And that would cause further risk to the community. Few people want their health department sharing their address with the sheriff’s office.
Sarah F
Thank You again for all you do. I don’t live in Florida but in Kansas City Mo last week in the news there were two Home owner associations that had requested home owners to notify them if anyone in the home had the virus. It was quickly deemed unconstitutional and illegal by a government department but sorry I forgot the departments name. They said was an attempt to publish private information, an invasion of privacy.
It just struck me as hypocritical to say knowing who has COVID -19 is protected information but who is on the registry is not. Both were supposed to be made public for the public’s protection.
Thank you for sharing this with us, DavidM. Interesting information for sure.
SarahF
I found the law it was referring to it’s the HIppa law of 1996. Mint for health care but it seems the application should overlap.
Yes medical records cannot be turned over to anyone unless you expressly sign permission
Aren’t health records private and aren’t the HIPA laws?
has chitwood ever heard of the Constitution of the United States of America?
does he know the laws of the land that he is sworn to uphold?
what a shame that Floridians actually vote for him to have any position at all
JI
Thank You ! I found it just before I read your comment. You are correct.
JI and DavidM, I could not agree with you more. Maybe down the road, this comparison could be used to help our cause. Thanks.
$hitwood was on Fox News recently. He is a rockstar to politicians, media outlets, and the ignorant populous that want to keep the prisons at full capacity. He KNOWS he is above the law in Floriduh, where he is fully supported by good ole boys DeSatanist and Sinator Reich Stadt. Florida will continue to get more miserable for registrants until we are all dead or move away.
You say “until we’re all dead” as if those who are currently registered will forever be the only ones registered. That registry is growing daily, weekly and monthly.
“All” includes all registrants, present and future.