BALDWIN COUNTY, AL. (WALA) – A local pastor is speaking out after court documents show he allowed People Forced to Register (PFR) to volunteer at a car wash that was too close to a school or daycare.
According to the documents, Dennis Potter is accused of allowing six PFR to volunteer to help wash cars on Sept. 14.
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office said the car wash happened near a school or daycare. By law, PFR cannot be within 2000 feet of.
Potter, who owns Outcast Ministries Inc., a non-profit aimed at rehabilitating people who are addicts, people who are homeless, and people with former criminal convictions through the word of God, said they have done car washes numerous times at the Outcast Ministries thrift store on Highway 59 and have never had a problem.
“We were certainly not trying to do anything wrong,” Potter said. “The thing about a Sunday, schools are not even meeting on Sunday, daycares are not in business on Sunday. There were no kids involved. These are adults, bringing their car up to do a car wash.”
Deputies said they’ve warned Potter about having PFR help with the car wash. However, Potter said the sheriff’s office only told him they cannot work full-time in his store, which he says he’s followed.
Potter said he works closely with law enforcement to ensure he’s following the law and has always complied.
“Some of my guys, they’re all facing felony charges over this, and they are clean,” he said. “If you rehabilitate someone, you’re actually improving public safety.”
Potter was charged with complicity. He said despite this happening, his mission remains the same and will continue to help and minister.
This is based on a similar story found here.
This is sickening!
He must have known the day care was there prior based upon the warning he received from LE about PFRs working in his store (in the story). Still goes to show there needs to be a map for all to know the exclusion zones and what they consist of with addresses of these valid entities that create them. You cannot abide by the law if you don’t know where the lines are literally drawn and when they are applicable, e.g., open hours of operation.
With all of this, this example shows the vagueness of the law when it comes to a day care, as an example, being used as a valid entity to extend an exclusion zone. The law says day care, but not when the day care is in operation, which is overbroad and overreaching. You cannot have an entity be used to extend an exclusion zone when it is not in operation. The least restrictive way to apply the law would be during operational hours only, not all day/night any day of the week.
It may be just me, but I believe that is a lawsuit in the wings waiting to happen. You cannot just sit on the day care definition to hold a spot (whether by license or physical space) when it is not being physically used as such to create hardship on people anytime one wants. This could apply to a school, park, etc, IMO.
VOID FOR VAGUENESS Doctrine
This principle is grounded in the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which mandate that laws provide sufficient definiteness so that people of ordinary intelligence can know what is forbidden.
The VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE requires that >CRIMINAL LAWS BE CLEAR ENOUGH FOR AN ORDINARY PERSON TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CONDUCT IS PROHIBITED<, >ENSURING FAIR NOTICE< and >PREVENTING ARBITRARY ENFORCEMENT<.
The Supreme Court has consistently held that laws must not force individuals to speculate about the meaning of penal statutes, emphasizing that ““NO ONE MAY BE REQUIRED AT PERIL OF LIFE, LIBERTY OR PROPERTY TO SPECULATE AS TO THE MEANING OF PENAL STATUTES””
Supreme Court Cases-
Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104 (1972), where the Court held:
“A vague law impermissibly delegates basic policy matters to policemen, judges, and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis, with the attendant dangers of arbitrary and discriminatory application. … [A] statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application, violates the first essential of due process of law.”
This means that laws must be written clearly enough that people of ordinary intelligence can understand what conduct is forbidden or required, without having to guess.
Similarly, in Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983), the Court struck down a California law requiring individuals to provide “credible and reliable” identification, stating:
“The void-for-vagueness doctrine requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”
Thus, the requirement that an ordinary person must be able to understand the law is a well-established constitutional safeguard rooted in due process, and it is consistently cited in Supreme Court rulings to invalidate laws that are too vague to guide public conduct or judicial enforcement.
How does this Void for Vagueness not apply to many laws, rules, statutes and etc PFRs face? Including singing a paper saying you understand all the laws and rules blah blah blah… That should be clearly explained to you according to this Void for Vagueness Doctrine.
OMG these poor people now have a felony charge!?! WTF@ck! They were washing cars at a ministry and trying to improve themselves…on a SUNDAY. F-ing morons. This makes me sick and I wish I was a gazillioinaire only to send in a swat team of attorneys on behalf of all of them.
I hope the universe, God, the spirits of all that is good (insert your faith how you see fit) shines down on these people and all of us who are trying on a daily basis to show up and do the best we can. Please bring some common sense to this world.
Worth bringing a lawsuit to challenge the law. I think the law is rational but not in every circumstance. Certainly if no children are congregated in the restricted areas, why would a person be restricted from it?
Are you telling me that Alabama law enforcement believes PFRs can’t volunteer at a car wash near a daycare/school on a Sunday? How can many schools or day cares open on Sunday? Alabama an extension of Florida and home of Forrest Gump.
I pray that the pastor will be able to file a lawsuit
This is a perfect example of persecution of people who have harmed no one
The laws need to change and abolish SORA.
” If you rehabilitate someone, you are actually improving public safety.” Nothing about the registry, notification laws, and everything else regarding sex offenses does neither.
From 1998 to 2025, registry laws evolved into a surveillance regime. Survivors who pled guilty decades ago now face: • Tier escalation without review • Mandatory psychological evaluations • Lifetime branding and exclusion • Forced sheriff notification upon relocation • Retroactive laws that criminalize movement, speech, and sanctuary
This is not civil regulation—it’s state-sanctioned legal servitude.
Sanctuary institutions harmed by caste denial are not neutral bystanders—they are co-survivors. When federal pressure forces refusal of service or revocation of tax-exempt status, these institutions suffer economic harm, reputational damage, and constitutional injury. They must be included in any compensation or relief.
Coalition Ledger Entry (Finalized)
Title: Caste of Exclusion — 654,448 Survivors + Sanctuary Institutions Denied Relief Embedded Constitutional Challenge: Survivor v. Legal Servitude — Expanded Amendment Challenge
Claim
Registry expansion, tax-exempt exclusions, and federal evasion have created a caste of 654,448 survivors and the institutions that serve them—both denied constitutional protections, economic relief, and religious sanctuary. Institutions refusing service under duress or denied exemption due to association with registrants are coerced participants in caste enforcement. Their harm is constitutional and compensable.
Confirmed Constitutional Violations
Amendment Violation Coalition Leverage
13th Involuntary servitude Legal coercion + threat of imprisonment = forced compliance. Retroactive laws and mandatory sheriff notification deepen the coercion.
8th Cruel and unusual punishment Indefinite surveillance, tier escalation, psychological evaluations, and forced sheriff contact retraumatize survivors.
14th Equal protection & due process Misclassification, tier upgrades, and sheriff notification occur without hearings or individualized review.
5th Procedural due process & takings Liberty and property (housing, employment) denied without compensation or appeal. Knick v. Scott Township affirms takings without state remedy exhaustion.
1st Speech, religion, assembly Notification laws chill speech; worship bans and residency restrictions deny sanctuary. Sheriff notification criminalizes movement and association.
4th Unreasonable search GPS tracking, mandated evaluations, and in-person sheriff reporting violate bodily autonomy. Grady v. NC confirms GPS tracking is a Fourth Amendment search.
Ex Post Facto Retroactive punishment Laws expanded post-1998 impose new burdens on past convictions—violating Article I, Sections 9 & 10. Doe v. Whitmer confirms retroactive registry laws are punitive.
Harm
• Coerced compliance and surveillance • Denial of sanctuary, speech, and religious access • Emotional retraumatization and civil branding • Housing instability and movement restrictions • Economic harm to institutions branded by association with registrants • Refusal of service by religious and charitable entities under federal duress • Denial of tax-exempt status for survivor-led sanctuaries
Relief Sought
• Constitutional review of registry statutes • Reclassification of survivors • Removal of sheriff notification mandates • Federal recognition of survivor-led sanctuaries as tax-exempt religious entities • Compensation for institutions harmed by caste-based exclusion • Protection for tax-exempt entities serving registrants and survivors • Restoration of proportional justice and autonomy
Precedent Cited
Case Amendment Key Holding
Doe v. Snyder Ex Post Facto Registry laws are punitive when applied retroactively
Doe v. Whitmer (2024) Ex Post Facto Retroactive registry laws are punitive
Packingham v. NC First Blanket internet bans violate free speech protections
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye First Laws targeting religious practice must survive strict scrutiny
Grady v. NC Fourth GPS tracking constitutes a search requiring reasonableness
Knick v. Scott Township Fifth Takings require compensation even without exhausting state remedies
Coalition Disclaimer (Survivor v. Legal Servitude)
Disclaimer: This entry is submitted for coalition documentation, survivor-centered advocacy, and constitutional challenge. It does not constitute legal advice, nor does it imply guilt, consent, or waiver of rights. All references to registry laws, psychological evaluations, tier upgrades, and retroactive statutes are framed as systemic harm under the 13th, 8th, 14th, 5th, 1st, and 4th Amendments and the Ex Post Facto Clause.
Survivor testimony may include coercion, trafficking, misclassification, and duress. Any plea agreement referenced herein is acknowledged as potentially entered under threat, misinformation, or survival-based pressure. This documentation is protected under coalition speech, public interest framing, and lawful jurisdictional disclaimers.
Jurisdictional Note: This entry is timestamped and formatted for coalition use across state, federal, county, and township forums. Survivors reserve the right to amend, retract, or expand testimony based on evolving legal standards, emotional safety, and constitutional review.
Daam wiped them all out. This story reminds me of California, from 2006 to 2018 they were doing stuff like this In all a cross the state.
As an update to this article. Pastor Dennis reached out to inform me that his attorney fee was $7500.00 to defend himself against this unjust police action.
Those of us who have the means, please visit their ministry page and consider how you might be of encouragement and help to the pastor and this ministry. Thanks!
http://www.outcastministries.org/