Making it impossible for people to find a place to live after serving their sentences is harsh and counterproductive to preventing further crimes.
Florida lawmakers are preparing to add new restrictions on where certain registered sex offenders are allowed to live, blocking them from housing near public pools, which include splash pads and a variety of water recreation attractions. While presented as a way of protecting children from predators, in truth, these new rules would push registrants farther into the shadows, into homelessness, and in some cases, make it harder to supervise these people because they will go underground or leave the state.
Senate Bill 212 and its companion House Bill 45 passed in March and are now headed to the governor’s desk. At a House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Hearing in November, the House bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Rachel Saunders Plakon (R-Seminole County), explained that the inspiration for the bill was a recent case where a sex offender on probation allegedly attempted to meet with an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old child. The probationer had been approved for a residence that was in “close proximity to a community pool where children regularly congregate. In fact, there were floats, animal toys, a water gun, and other items consistent with use by children present,” Plakon said. “The judge ruled the defendant’s residence did not violate any law. So, today’s bill will right that wrong.”
The legislation would accordingly add the new category of “public swimming pools” to residency restrictions for sex offenders with young victims under 16. There are a lot of public pools in Florida, so—not surprisingly—advocates for registrants objected strenuously to the original bill, which was even broader, restricting residency near all state public waterways, not just pools. They argued it would make …
I’m a little lost. Exactly what is the correlation between the residence and the charged crime? Beyond that, if the registrant is on probation and the community pool has “floats, animal toys, a water gun, and other items consistent with use by children present”, isn’t it already a place children congregate? If so, shouldn’t her problem be with the probation office that approved the residence?
And for the record, I have a very hard time believing that backstory. I presume the “registrant” could only have fallen for one of those stupid stings ops, after which the lead department parades around like idiots prattling on about what great protectors of children they are (conveniently forgetting those children were imaginary) and never – not one single time that I have seen – have they ever claimed to have nabbed a registrant.
The fact is that actual predators trolling the net looking for children aren’t looking for them on the adult sites and forums those stings operate in. I would really like one reporter to ask about that at the next press conference held to celebrate yet another “successful” operation.
Nothing about the sex offense registry or any laws regarding restrictions on citizens with sex offenses do anything to improve public safety. Nothing but smoke and mirrors for dopes who are unable to use common sense and rather live in fear.
I appreciate the article. Leave it to Reason to post something reasonable. What I do hate is that in this article the author does the same thing…refers to those forced to register as [derogatory labels]. As if that is some current situation. No, it was a past offense. We don’t do that with other crimes.
REMOVAL from FL’s REGISTRY: Yes, it is possible – in some circumstances – to be removed from Florida’s Registry. I myself have been successfully removed from Florida’s Registry.
It is pricey – lawyers aren’t cheap – but it is possible.