H1301/SB1226 Passes
by Florida Action Committee
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Florida Legislature passed another stupid, punitive and unnecessary sex offender bill that will only enrich those in private prisons, the GPS vendors and the Books.
[floridaactioncommittee.org]
THE TIME IS NOW! ITS OUR LAST SHOT AT TRYING TO STOP THIS!
WE NEED 100’s of calls to each of these legislators! There are 120 Representatives in the House and 40 Senators in the Senate!!
WE MUST CALL THEM ALL! GET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO CALL TOO!!!
Our legislators, republican and democrats alike, refuse to recognize the empirical data regarding sex offender policy. All they continue to do is pass “feel good” legislation, which does nothing for public safety nor stop the cycle of abuse.
DEMAND EDUCATED AND INFORMED POLICY! ASK FOR THE EVIDENCE WHICH THEY BASED A NEED TO CHANGE THE EXISTING POLICY!!!!
This bill impacts registrants (and their families) who travel to Florida!
It reduces the days that you can stay someplace in this state without registering from 3 to 5 (in the aggregate). Registering in Florida causes you to remain on the Florida public registry FOR LIFE!
Effectively, if you want to bring your family to Florida for a Hoiday weekend (3 Day Weekend), you would need to register. Since most registration offices (Sheriff’s SPOT units) are closed on Holidays, you would no longer be able to do this without committing a felony!
Alternatively, you would have to remain in FL for an extra day (generally a work day) to comply with the registration requirement by going to register IN PERSON. That would also earn you a spot on the public registry forever, even after you return to your home state.
The other problem with this bill is it creates a MANDATORY MINIMUM with GPS Monitoring for any technical registration violation. Imagine that! GPS Monitoring for a strict liability violation of something that’s not supposed to be a “punishment” in the first place!
Since so many people reading this visit Florida, it is important to oppose it, as it does not only impact people in Florida, it impacts anyone that wants to visit there!
An email list for the legislators can be found here: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/call-to-action-email-list-for-florida-legislators/
Remember, it’s HB1301 in the House and SB1226 in the Senate.
A few thoughts on this in my opinion:
I doubt a court could get you on a FTR over a three-day weekend or allow this part to stand on appeal, but I could be wrong. Here is why:
Goes to the Fed/State weekend/holiday rule which is practiced across the nation and which gov’t (sheriff too) offices observe. Bills or actions are due on their due date to be processed or the first business day after if the due date is on a weekend/holiday. (To help with this and ensure compliance, an RC has a +/- X day window on their registration date.) If a Monday or a Friday are holidays and the Sheriff’s office is closed for registering, then it should kick to the next business day they are open to conduct business. If you are leaving on the first open business day after the long weekend, then you are leaving on the first chance to register, which the court should most likely see as the day you should depart or register.
I know there was discussion here recently was about Las Vegas, NV, the 48 hour registry rule, and whether you get the extra day because LEOs are not open on the third day to register; thus, there is an extra day to stay. I still stay the banking rule goes into effect there, and possibly in FLA if the law passes, because the law and court cannot hold you to an impossible standard if they cannot accommodate the ability to register.
FLA is out there on their policies, so no guarantees because they like to screw with people and place traps, but I bet someone could challenge this in court as soon as the law is passed, if they wanted. This is not legal advice and I am not an atty, but, again, merely my opinion. Opinions are what everyone has and are a dime a dozen.
(USG example is IRS Pub 509 (2018) – Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
Generally, if a due date for performing any act for tax purposes falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the act is considered to be performed timely if it is performed no later than the next day that isn’t a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The term “legal holiday” means any legal holiday in the District of Columbia. The calendars provided in this publication make the adjustment for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. But you must make any adjustments for statewide legal holidays, as discussed later.)
(For the sake of full understanding, is FLA the only state where you VISIT you’ll get lifetime registry placement (what a souvenir)? Isn’t NY the same? Other states?)
It should be said call in and object no matter what. This is bunk law and one that should be killed. The Gov will sign as he is on his way out and won’t care.
I, too, have a hard time seeing how any court–even in FL–would say hold you liable for a law for which compliance isn’t possible (i.e. when the offices are closed). If they provide access 7 days a week, it would be a different story.
As for states that keep you on for life, there are many. FL, NY, LA, AL(?) all come to mind just off the top of my head. I remember reading a paper talking about RCs and such, and it mentioned something like 17 or 19 states having no method for de-registering, which is actually what’s going on.
Makes Thanksgiving weekend interesting since many places (gov’t offices) observe a full four day weekend or go to limited services. That truly is a place by place consideration when this time comes for visiting.
All people who support the Registries need to be harmed as the harassing terrorists that they are. It is not enough to simply fight to maintain rights. They need to be harmed. They are criminals.
You would think the criminal legislators in Florida would be more interested to know why they allow people who have shot people with guns to live next door to schools. Personally, I think it is so they can shoot children from their front porches. But just a guess.
You are right, Will, they clearly benefit by shooting tragedies. They like people to be in fear of one another, that is the foundation of the registries, people afraid of each other won’t notice their misdeeds. When a shooting occurs, the gun sales go up. The manufacturers have more money to give to politicians and the cycle is sustaining. It is truly a criminal enterprise. They have to have accountability and the only way they understand is harm to their bottom line. I don’t know how to do that, but petitioning alone is not working. Look at the high school kids. In about a month they will be forgotten. You have to attack the memes that are infecting America. “Registration protects children” is just one of many interrelated falsehoods infecting the American culture. About time we wake up and see a common enemy.
Florida is the most F’ed up place on Earth. Every aspect of society there is a joke. We can only hope that a sink hole swallows the morons that run that s*** hole of a state. That being said, if you are unfortunate enough to be stuck there, you deserve to be treated with respect.
Whenever I’m able to get off the registry, I think I might still avoid Florida on just a matter of principle. How Florida is allowed to continue doing what they’re doing is beyond me. All these things seem like an incredibly overstep of legal boundaries, yet it all remains (successfully) unchallenged. I was under the impression that states could provide more legally leeway than federal laws (gay marriage, marijuana, etc) but not less so than federal. Clearly that’s not the case, at least for RC’s. Is there any other state with generally worse RC laws that Florida?
@AlexO:
You are correct in your assessment of state vs. federal rights and responsibilities. However, there has been no federal limit established. SCOTUS has only said, “yeah this is okay”. It has not given any boundary on the “that’s not okay” end. Snyder and Muniz have helped, but they are not nationally enforced the way a SCOTUS decision is. So for those in PA and the 6th Circuit, they do have a bit of the “this is okay, but that’s not okay.”
I used to live in this SLUM state years ago before my supposed crime…. luckily in on the west coast in so cal… funny thing my so called victim lives there now !…. which btw I used to live in Orange County, FL aka Orlando, been to disney ans universal, they all pay thier employees close to min wage, lots of crime in FL and some places are just plain GHETTO ! Like Oviedo and Bithlow (next door to orlando) Thank god I only lived there to buy a house and file a large bankrupcy ! as soon as it was final I sold my house and moved back here !! Cops ther in orange county are scum also ! and FDLE is no better ! trust me you wanna visit seaworld or disney or universal… CA is the way to go ! although KEY WEST is beautiful, that is all the state has going for itself….
Can you get off the registry in Florida and who can protect you while your on probation?? my son is coming out next year and shouldn’t even have been charged with such a crime but a girl lied about her age now were all scared for him.
S
Florida keeps registrants on the list forever. They do not ever remove any registrant from the list, even when they move out of state or die. I’m sorry to have to tell you, if your son has to register in Florida, he will never get off the list. It would be best if he could go to another state.