“The Untouchables” Film Highlights Inhumane treatment of Sex Offenders in Miami-Dade Florida
Weekly Update 2017-03-14
Dear Members and Advocates,
If you are in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe or Palm Beach Counties, we encourage you to come out to the special screening of the film, “Untouchable” that will be taking place tonight, at 7:30PM, at the corner of Northwest 71st Street and 36th Court, in Miami.
The event will be important for a number of reasons. First; the film is an incredible documentary that presents both sides of our very controversial topic in a balanced fashion. Second; the site of the screening is the encampment where 250 registered persons are legislated into homelessness. The production company will be bringing in projectors, screens, security, seating and even portable bathrooms. FAC will be sponsoring snacks. But otherwise the site is a desolate location in the middle of nowhere where hundreds of human beings must call their “residence”. Third; there will be a panel discussion after the film at which the Director, David Feige, civil rights attorney Val Jonas and professor and researcher Dr. Jill Levenson will be presenting. It will be a not-to-miss opportunity to learn about how things got this bad and what we can do to fix it. Finally, FAC and the ACLU will be on-hand to answer questions, provide information and network. The ACLU represents the individuals who live transient at the site of tonight’s event in a lawsuit against the County of Miami-Dade.
The screening starts at 7:30 PM and will take place at the corner of Northwest 71st Street and 36th Court in Miami. A link to a map of the location can be found here: https://goo.gl/maps/9MQnnnF23dC2 and if your GPS requires a physical address to get you there, enter 7100 NW 36th Court, Miami, FL 33147. Light snacks and refreshments will be served and seating will be made available, but feel free to bring lawn chairs and food in case the turn-out is greater than expected.
The focus of the past couple of weeks have been on two things; legislation and debunking the “high re-offense” myth. Both items require an exercise that’s critically important in accomplishing our goals – education. Many people think that registrants are these insatiable, incurable, voracious predators who will always re-offend. They are led to think that way by a myth that has been permitted to propagate for decades, but has since been debunked. The problem is; because of this myth, these laws get passed and courts uphold them. Until we educate the public on the facts – that won’t change.
The good news is that education is paying off and the news is picking up on it. The Washington Post went as far, last week, as to call the high recidivism myth “the big lie about sex offenders.” It is now widely known that the “frightening and high” statistic, Justice Kennedy threw out in Smith v. Doe was so off-base that even the treatment provider he was quoting agreed so. Tonight’s event is an opportunity for us to get out into the community and educate. We invite you to bring family and friends so that you can help educate them too.
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
Reporter Vaughn interviewed source of “High” re-offense myth.<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/reporter-vaughn-among-first-point-issues-high-re-offense-myth/>
In the past couple of weeks, large mainstream news outlets, including the NY Times and Washington Post, have reported on the significant myth perpetuated as a result of the US Supreme Court’s statement that sex offender recidivism rates were “frightening and high.” …
The Dobbs Wire: The BIG LIE about ‘sex offenders’ – three takes! Balko, Feige, Skenazy<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/dobbs-wire-big-lie-sex-offenders-three-takes-balko-feige-skenazy/>
Radley Balko (Washington Post), David Feige (Slate), and Lenore Skenazy (New York Post) tackle the big lie about ‘sex offenders’ – three really smart takes! Oral argument in Packingham v. North Carolina – links to the transcript and archived audio are at the end. …
Florida Appellate Courts Bound by Shelley Case (Double Jeopardy)<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/florida-appellate-courts-bound-shelley-case-double-jeopardy/>
Last week Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals issued an order in Santiago-Morales v Florida that acknowledged it was bound by the precedent decision in State v. Shelley, 176 So. 3d 914, 916 (Fla. 2015), which held that double-jeopardy principles prohibit separate…
Sex offender status and parental rights.<https://floridaactioncommittee.org/sex-offender-status-parental-rights/>
In an earlier post and our weekly update, we discussed a Bill (sponsored by Sen. Lauren Book) to expand the number of offenses that would create a rebuttable presumption of dangerousness to children, to include non-contact sex offenses, such as child pornography. It’s…