Some States Exhibiting Good Sense around Sex Offender Laws, But Not All
IMPORTANT: NEW PHONE NUMBER FOR MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP CALL EFFECTIVE 8/2/2018 – SEE BELOW.
Dear Members and Advocates,
What happens in other states has an impact on what happens here. Although a victory or new legislation in another state has no precedential value in a Florida court, it has a persuasive one. It’s generally seen as an “other states have seen the light, we are behind the curve and need to catch up” argument. In a sense, it also gives a judge the comfort of not making a controversial decision without support of knowing judges in other jurisdictions made the same decision.
Recently, the state of Missouri passed a bill that would create a tiered registry. Previously, it was a one-sized fits all registry that was in effect for life. Now people convicted of “lower tier” offenses have the opportunity to come off the registry after as soon as 15 years (with the ability to petition after 10). California, which has long been a draconian state, also passed a tiered system (to be implemented by 2021) and may soon not be the state with the largest (over 100,000 people) sex offender registry.
The idea of creating a tiered system (instead of one-size-fits all) is two-fold. First, it alleviates resources distributed among all offenders equally and enables them to be applied where they are most needed. Secondly, it affords people on the registry an incentive to remain compliant. If you know there’s a possibility of coming off the registry after 10 years, you will make sure you jump through all the hoops, doing everything you can to demonstrate your rehabilitation. If, no matter what, you will never come off, what’s the point?
Other states are beginning to see the nonsense in lifetime registration and implementing change. Whether they are beginning to crumble under the burden of a rapidly growing registry with no attrition, or they implement a sex offender management board that makes a recommendation they chose to follow, change is coming. Some states, like our neighbor to the north, Georgia, have some exceptions to account for common sense situations. For example; physically incapacitated registrants, those in a nursing home or permanently disabled may petition for relief immediately. GA § 42-1-19(a)(1), (c)(1). Not so in Florida… they expect quadriplegics or those in comas to continue to comply. A comprehensive table of the requirements in other states can be found here, but for the most part, the majority of states offer an opportunity to be relieved from registration for “low tier” offenses after 10 years.
Speaking of irrational nonsense, there are also a handful of States that keep people on their registries even after they leave the state, are deported or even die. There’s no logic to it and arguably the clutter of all these people on the list who are NOT in the community only dilutes the effectiveness of a public registry, but for whatever reason (ok, not “whatever” it’s money) they stay on. Florida is such as state.
A couple months ago, we wrote about a case out of Illinois, where a registrant now living in another country flew into the state to visit his sick mother, registered as he was supposed to, and was stuck on Illinois’ registry for life. Not only that, but because of the IML notification he was unable to return home! In exile and separated from his family, he brought suit to challenge the law and won. The judge agreed that the people of Illinois derived no benefit from having this man on their registry for life if he wasn’t living there and would not be harmed by his removal. She ordered him off the list immediately.
Now that the period to appeal that decision has expired, the man’s attorney, Ron Kleiner, is able to talk about the case and the plan to bring an “out of state” challenge to the Florida registry. Mr. Kleiner will be the guest speaker on this Thursday’s FAC Monthly Member Call. This topic will be of interest not only to those who are on the Florida registry but no longer live here, but also to anyone seeking to challenge a component of the registry that simply is irrational and provides no safety benefit to the state.
The call will begin promptly at 8PM EST this Thursday, August 2, 2018. PLEASE NOTE that the telephone number to call in to the monthly member calls has changed. The new call in instructions are: 1. Dial 605-562-0444 2. Enter Show ID 114125# 3. Enter PIN 1# for Guest.
We look forward to having you join us!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
Missouri to Create Tiered Sex Offender Registry
Effective August 28, 2018, Missouri will undergo some changes to it’s sex offender registry. For the most part, these changes are good, common sense changes that will afford some persons required to register the opportunity to be removed. Among other changes; the Bill…
“In-Person” Registration Requirement Submitted to the Supreme Court
[Thanks to a member for bringing this case to our attention] A petition for Writ of Certiorari has been filed to the Supreme Court of the United States in Boyd v. Washington. At issue in that case is whether the number of In Person registration requirements violates…
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US Sentencing Commission to Consider Public Comment on Sentences
Dear supporters, Another advocacy group in our movement CCNCR has sent a letter to the USSC as they are currently taking public comments. Numbers count. The USSC is taking comments until next week. This issue is important to keep on their annual priority list. Please…
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Springfield Township man claims Ohio’s sex offender parole law won’t allow visits with son
A Springfield Township man filed a federal lawsuit challenging Ohio’s sex offender parole law as unconstitutional because it forbids him from seeing his 14-year-old son. The Ohio Justice and Policy Center filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of a 50-year-old…
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Bill Cosby challenges new sex offender law as unconstitutional
Bill Cosby, the former acting legend who was recently convicted of sexual offenses, is challenging his designation as a “Sexually Violent Predator” Days ago, Cosby received the designation from the State of Pennsylvania. Some of the distinctions of the SVP designation…
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Rick Scott Receives Over $200,000 from Private Prison Group in Senate Campaign Donations
Gov. Rick Scott’s new U.S. Senate campaign report shows generous support from a Florida-based company with a controversial track record, the Boca-Raton based corrections giant the GEO Group. GEO operates immigrant detention facilities in Florida and Texas that are at…
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Clarence Collins Still in Jail
Clarence Collins, a sex predator who worked at the Pride Center for 15 years and was arrested in April for failing to re-register as a sex offender, is still behind bars. It’s unclear why though. Collins has a bond of $2,500, which means all he needs is $250 to get…
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Florida DOC to make NO CHANGE to visitation Rules. Weekend visits continue!
From Florida Cares Charity Corp (www.floridacarescharity.org) “A victory for the incarcerated and their families – no visitation rule change!!!! A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for all your time and effort as we stood together and opposed visitation cuts. Florida Cares…