With Unity Comes Change
Add Kania to the list of cases where individuals convicted of online solicitation offenses had their “associated” charges dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. Last week, the 2nd DCA threw out the “unlawful use of a two-way communications device” conviction of a defendant who was also convicted of traveling to meet a minor in 2012, finding that it was part of
Read moreSex Offender Sues Twitter Although the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that States cannot restrict a registered sex offender’s access to social media (Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. ___ (2017)), nothing has stopped social media companies, such as Facebook, from restricting sex offenders from their platforms. A lawsuit filed last week may change that! Jared Taylor is
Read moreScam Directed at Registered Sex Offenders We have received several emails from members advising us that they have received a letter from a law firm in Texas, Estes-Hightower, PLLC stating they “received their contact information” from the state’s Public Safety Sex Offender Registry” and to contact them to see whether they are eligible for “early removal from the Sex Offender
Read moreFlorida Bill Targets Sex Offenders Renting Vacation Properties The Florida Action Committee will be circulating the following letter to all legislators in our State concerning the “Vacation Rental” bill that would impose ridiculous requirements on both registrants and owners of vacation rental properties. The bill is the result of “knee-jerk” legislation that is proposed without any planning or forethought. In
Read moreFlorida Bill Tries to Ban Sex Offenders from Vacation Rentals A new bill concerning vacation rentals, HB 773, sponsored by Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, is making its way through the Florida House of Representatives. (https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=768073.docx&DocumentType=Amendments&BillNumber=0773&Session=2018) The bill, among other things, would require vacation rental owners to give 24-hour notice to residents who live within 1,000 feet of the
Read moreUnintended Consequences for Florida Sexual Offenders Let’s set aside personal beliefs about the death penalty for any crime and focus solely on the conviction and punishment of Donald Smith. I am so pleased that Donald Smith is being punished for the horrible, sick things he did to Cherish Perrywinkle! I’m also so happy that he’s being punished for the horrible things
Read moreNews About Sex Offenders and Civil Commitment “Broken beyond anyone’s imagination” is how the State of Texas’ civil commitment program was described in this Southern Poverty Law Center article that was posted this weekend. The “civil commitment” scheme, which indefinitely confines (pretty much synonymous with “incarceration”) individuals under (a) the guise of treatment and (b) the belief that they may
Read moreFather on Sex Offender Registry Barred from Son’s Hospital A member contacted us this week. He’s on the registry for an offense that took place over 15 years ago. He brought his son to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando for surgery and was denied access at the door because of his status on the registry. These policies that prevent former
Read moreNews About Florida Registered Sex Offenders The City of Ft. Lauderdale’s ordinance has caused more than half of the registered sex offenders in the city to be homeless. The City ordinance, which banishes sex offenders from; “within one thousand four hundred (1,400) feet of any of the following:(1) Any school where the majority of the population attending are students less
Read moreIt was not long ago that we reacted to the mass shootings in Las Vegas or at Pulse nightclub. Senseless tragedies. Situations where nothing appropriate can be said, except this should never be allowed to happen. When it happens at a school and children are killed, its even more tragic. Yesterday, it happened in our State, in our second-most
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