A jury Monday found a couple guilty of having sex on Bradenton Beach after only 15 minutes of deliberation. The convictions carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
____ and ___ were charged with two counts each of lewd and lascivious behavior for having sex on a public beach on July 20, 2014.Video played in the courtroom during the 1- 1/2-day-long trial showed Alvarez moving on top of Caballero in a sexual manner in broad daylight. Witnesses testified that a 3-year-old girl saw them.
Both ____ and ____ will now have to register as sex offenders. Full Article
Related: Florida Couple Faces Jail Time, Lifetime on Sex-Offender Registry, for Having Sex on a Beach
Fabiola Santiago: Prosecutors went overboard in beach-sex case
I’m glad they didn’t take a plea. This case will make a great Eighth Amendment appeal.
From the comments it looks like most people see a need to punish this crude public behavior but balk at excessive punishment and registration.
I don’t know where Florida stands in it’s total RSO tally but I’m guessing they hope to be number one in the near future.
Note that the actual worse consequence is the fact they both have lifetime Florida sex offender registration and all its restrictions.
Here is the scene in question… appropriate? Hardly. Worth years and years in prison? Hmmmm….
In a sane place someone would have walked up to them and told them to cut it out. Sanity and common sense no longer has any place in this country where the only way to solve anything is to register, incarcerate or, on a broader sense, bomb the place to pieces.
http://uproxx.com/webculture/2015/05/florida-beach-couple-15-years-prison/
Wow, how insane. Sure, maybe they should have kept it a little more discrete, but prison??? If that were the case in Europe, everyone would be serving time. When has this country become so prude? Why not start censoring TV programs? How ridiculous. They should have been given a hefty fine and a warning and asked to leave the beach.
Welcome, welcome to the club…. one way to dismantle the abomination that is the sex offender registry is to fight it, in court and such. Another way is to put so many people on it that it defeats itself. A combination of both should yield best results.
If you use the calculation and data sources shown here
https://all4consolaws.org/general-info/
then 1 out of every 120 male adults in Florida is a lifetime Registered Sex Offender. In Oregon it is 1 out of 60 male adults.
At what point does something become the norm?
It seems that so called justice in this country has become a perversion in it’s own right. That this is happening in Florida (the other stupid state) is not surprising.
Isn’t it interesting that the comments under the original article show an incredible amount of support for the accused in this case, in spite of a child seeing them?
Well, I’m not sure what to say. The couple was clearly out of control! I mean, what if you where walking down the beach with your children? I don’t agree with the lewd charge, but this is more of an indecent exposure charge. Please read the article/articles carefully. The man had spent 8 years in prison for cocaine sales ect. So, the reason he is facing up to 15 years is because this is his 2nd felony. Having sex at a public beach during the day around children isn’t appropriate! If your an adult, you clearly should understand this. Now, if it was midnight, the beach was dark and perhaps a woman had lifted her skirt up, then maybe you might comprehend things occur. Although, this couple was clearly out of control and if I had spent 8 years in prison and been out for 3, I would clearly be doing anything I could to be a decent law abiding citizen!
Well, whoever found my comments to be posted in a negative fashion clearly must still have issues! First, if you think it’s okay to have sex on a public beach during the daytime, then you have issues! Nobody in their right mind would think this is okay or acceptable! Secondly, I spent a few days in LA County after my ordeal 20 years and I won’t forget! This guy spent 8 years in prison! He was released 3 years earlier? So, who knows if he was still on parole? Now, if you break the law and pay your debt to society, you deserve a 2nd chance! Although, if you break it again, you clearly have issues! Get counseling guys! I don’t agree with the charges or the amount of time they are facing, but they do deserve punishment!
I think the penalty for the accusation, regardless if he had priors, is still an extreme punishment that simply doesn’t fit.
Secondly, other sources have quoted that there was no evidence of nudity, exposure or penetration. The defense stated that she was on top of him trying to wake him up. What I find very disturbing is that these two were charged and convicted based solely on one eyewitness account. It’s widely documented that eyewitnesses are not always reliable.
Oh boy! You guys all must be innocent as well! Your all victims! Surreal
Duh, I was facing 24 years! Prior to my preliminary hearing, the DA offered me 6 years in state prison? When it was all over, I plead to 1 battery charge and received summary probation! Duh, they could be facing 20 years, but that doesn’t mean they will receive it! Are they first time offenders? Furthermore, have you ever met an honest TV reporter or writer? They always blow stories way out of proportion? Do the newspapers or TV newscasters always portray sex offenders correctly? No! No! So, I think you guys should put your thinking caps on and realize stories like this sell newspapers ect! How do you know what evidence was given to the jury? Are you truthfully believing everything the columnist is writing? Seriously? Furthermore, does anyone know what type of plea deal was offered? Probation? 2 days in jail? There isn’t a day that goes by where we all read something that was written and posted on this site that’s factually wrong? Wake up! For a we know, they where having sex? Be open minded!
What’s is up with usa. Brags about being in the top 5% of wage earners but doesn’t file motions or pursue any legal avenues to help the cause. At least not that I know of and then to come off with the sarcasm towards others on this site. Hmmm I tell ya if I had the resources I would be following every legal avenue I could pursue in this cause not nust for myself but for the good of us all. USA hire a lawyer to prepare a boilerplate motion for injunction relief based on the issues I brought up in other post and make it availible to everyone and file your own you should easily be able to prevail if what you say about your situation is true.
Just in case you missed it in previous post here it is again.
I want to know if you would be interested in assisting me in refining and or formatting the following into a proper court document or if you can direct me to someone that would. Any feedback or suggestions would be great. Thank you for your time. Please be aware that courts do award attorney fees in such cases. The following is just one example.
In January of 2009, the Court also granted plaintiffs’ motion for attorney fees in the amount of $145,823.50.
I the plaintiff __________________________ do hereby bring forth this motion for Declaratory and/or Injunction relief. This motion is being brought forth as a as applied challenge to the constitutionality of the sex offender registration and notification laws or Megans law as applied to me.
Introduction.
I am a non-violent, non-contact first time ex-offender from a incident that occurred over a decade ago. There was never any physical contact between myself and any victim. I completed my prison sentence and parole supervision without any incidents or violations despite all the obstacles and conditions of parole that were placed on me because of the sex offender designation. I have been arrest free and a completely law abiding citizen since my release. I do not pose any risk to the public. I was already severely punished for my offense and have been subjected to intensive monitoring and supervision while on parole. I should not be subjected to these registration and notification laws that involve consequences that are severely detrimental to so many aspects of my life.
Governments have an obligation to protect people and take appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within its jurisdiction to protect them from violence. One element of that duty is to take measures to deter and prevent crime. They must do so, however, within a human rights framework, which places restrictions on those measures that infringe on the human rights guaranteed to all. A person’s conviction of a crime does not extinguish his or her claim to just treatment at the hands of government. Sex offender laws interfere with a panoply of protected rights: the rights to privacy, to family and home, to freedom of movement and liberty (including the right to work and to reside where one chooses ), and to physical safety and integrity (including protection from harm by private as well as public actors). None of these rights are absolute. But laws that infringe upon them must be necessary to serve a legitimate public interest and they must be rational and evidence-based. It is important to recognize that constitutional protections must be afforded to all regardless of the public having a perception of certain classes having a pariah reputation. The government cannot allow rights to be taken away “based solely upon the category of the crime for which the offender is found guilty.”
Issues.
There are several constitutional violations that I will outline in this motion and that I would like this court to consider and address.
1. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental constitutional right to life, liberty, property, my freedom of movement and my freedom of association.
2. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental privacy rights.
3. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental constitutional right to be free from unreasonable, arbitrary, and oppressive official action.
4. The sex offender registration and notification laws have no rational basis when applied to me in my case.
Facts.
1. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental constitutional right to liberty and freedom of movement and my freedom of association by severely infringing on my ability to travel both interstate and intrastate and also international travel. With all the different state laws and local ordinances that are in place and the constant introduction of new legislation in the different states and the constantly changing local ordinances in thousands of cities and counties across the country, it makes it virtually impossible for me to travel or visit anywhere in this country without a very real fear and potential for violating one of these laws or ordinances. It is virtually impossible for a person of average intelligence to research, assimilate and abide by all the different state laws and local ordinances that apply to registered sex offenders across the country. The punishments for violating one of these laws or ordinances are severe. It is a violation of my fundamental right to liberty and to freely travel and associate in this country. I can not attend meetings or protest that occur in places that prohibit regjstared sex offenders from being present. The registration and notification laws makes it impossible for me to travel to a multitude of major countries in the world as they are notified by our government of my registration status so therefore I am denied entry. These are not hypothetical situations and are not minor inconviences or limited collateral consequences of registration but are major violations of my fundamental rights to liberty. These violations will continue to cause me irreparable damage as long as I am subjected to these registration and notification laws.
The Bill of Rights lists specifically enumerated rights. The Supreme Court has extended fundamental rights by recognizing several fundamental rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, including but not limited to: The right to interstate travel. The right to intrastate travel. Any restrictions a government statute or policy places on these rights are evaluated with strict scrutiny. The Bill of Rights was specifically adopted to protect fundamental freedoms from the will of the majority.
2. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental privacy rights by making public my personal address and current photo which is not public information and which puts me in physical harm every time I enter or leave my home and even while I’m in my home I can not feel safe. This information is also being publicly distributed on the internet from privately owned and operated websites such as homefacts.com. That information being made public puts not only myself but my families lives and property in danger of physical harm, harrasment and vandalism.These claims are not hypothetical situations or exaggerations, these claims are facts and the possibilities of these incidents occurring are real and in fact some have already occurred in my case. This is not a minor collateral consequence of registration but a major violation of my fundamental right to privacy. The Megans law website also displays my criminal record that should only be available to authorized individuals who meet certain criteria and have a need to know basis, not to the general public at a click of a computer mouse. Again, these violations will continue to cause me irreparable damage as long as I am subjected to these registration and notification laws.
3. The sex offender registration and notification laws violate my fundamental constitutional right to be free from unreasonable, arbitrary, and oppressive official action.
A. The fact that the courts have previously stated that registration and notification laws are minor collateral consequences of a regulatory scheme is simply unreasonable to conclude now in light of all the recent research that has been done on this subject and based on the severity of those consequences I now face because of the registration and notification laws. These laws are unreasonable and are grossly disproportionate as they severely infringe on my fundamental rights while not achieving any legitimate legislative purpose or objectives of increasing public safety, preventing recidivism or reducing sexual abuse as demostrated in the following reports from some of the leading authorities on this subject.
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) End of year report 2014. (page. 13)
Under the current system many local registaring agencies are challenged just keeping up with registration paperwork. It takes an hour or more to process each registrant, the majority of whom are low risk offenders. As a result law enforcement cannot monitor higher risk offenders more intensively in the community due to the sheer numbers on the registry. Some of the consequences of lengthy and unnecessary registration requirements actually destabilize the lifes of registrants and those -such as families- whose lives are often substantially impacted. Such consequences are thought to raise levels of known risk factors while providing no discernable benefit in terms of community safety.
The full report is availible online at. http://www.casomb.org/index.cfm?pid=231
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs United States of America.
The overall conclusion is that Megan’s law has had no demonstrated effect on sexual offenses in New Jersey, calling into question the justification for start-up and operational costs. Megan’s Law has had no effect on time to first rearrest for known sex offenders and has not reduced sexual reoffending. Neither has it had an impact on the type of sexual reoffense or first-time sexual offense. The study also found that the law had not reduced the number of victims of sexual offenses.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=247350
The University of Chicago Press for The Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOI: 10.1086/658483
Conclusion. The data in these three data sets do not strongly support the effectiveness of sex offender registries. The national panel data do not show a significant decrease in the rate of rape or the arrest rate for sexual abuse after implementation of a registry via the internet. The BJS data that tracked individual sex offenders after their release in 1994 did not show that registration had a significantly negative effect on recidivism. And the D.C. crime data do not show that knowing the location of sex offenders by census block can help protect the locations of sexual abuse. This pattern of noneffectiveness across the data sets does not support the conclusion that sex offender registries are successful in meeting their objectives of increasing public safety and lowering recidivism rates.
The full report is availible online at. http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/658483
These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of conclusions and reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community.
The court should not rely on and reiterate the statements and opinions of the legislators or the courts in previous decisions as to the need for the laws because of the high recidivism rates and the high risk offenders pose to the public which simply is not true and is pure hyperbole and fiction. The court should rely on facts and data collected and submitted in reports from the leading authorities and credible experts in the fields such as the following.
SEX OFFENDER RECIDIVISM ANALYSIS A State-by-State Comparison of Recidivism Rates Between Sex Offenders and All Felony Offenders (1983-2010) © 2010 Sam Caldwell. All Rights Reserved.
Summary
The following is a collection of recidivism studies comparing the failure rate of all felony offenders to the failure rate of sex offenders who have committed a new sex crime. All of the studies presented on this page are carefully selected state-sponsored studies, authorized by either the federal Government (US Department of Justice) or the several state legislatures and their respective state agencies. Every effort has been made to eliminate purely academic or politically motivated research.
The findings in this analysis stand in contrast to conventional wisdom perpetuated during the 1990s. It is a false assumption that sex offender recidivism rates are higher than non-sex offenders. It is also a myth that the majority of sex crimes are committed by convicted or registered sex offenders. Further it is a myth that the many hours of legislative testimony on this subject is backed by research, as the majority of all research on this subject shows that (a) sex offender and overall recidivism varies from state to state as a result of policies enacted in a given state, and (b) sex offender recidivism is surprisingly lower than previously reported by political figures or the media. In fact, as this analysis concludes, the average recidivism rate reported by the studies collected herein is approximately 9%, compared to an average 42% recidivism for all felony offenders.
The full report is available online at. http://recidivism.me/
Bureau of Justice Statistics
5 PERCENT OF SEX OFFENDERS REARRESTED FOR ANOTHER SEX CRIME WITHIN 3 YEARS OF PRISON RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Within 3 years following their 1994 state prison release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.
The full report is available online at. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/rsorp94pr.cfm
Document title; A Model of Static and Dynamic Sex Offender Risk Assessment Author: Robert J. McGrath, Michael P. Lasher, Georgia F. Cumming Document No.: 236217 Date Received: October 2011 Award Number: 2008-DD-BX-0013
Findings: Study of 759 adult male offenders under community supervision Re-arrest rate: 4.6% after 3-year follow-up
The sexual re-offense rates for the 746 released in 2005 are much lower than what many in the public have been led to expect or believe. These low re-offense rates appear to contradict a conventional wisdom that sex offenders have very high sexual re-offense rates.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236217.pdf
Document Title: SEX OFFENDER SENTENCING IN WASHINGTON STATE: RECIDIVISM RATES BY: Washington State Institute For Public Policy.
A study of 4,091 sex offenders either released from prison or community supervision form 1994 to 1998 and examined for 5 years Findings: Sex Crime Recidivism Rate: 2.7%
Link to Report: http://www.oncefallen.com/files/Washington_SO_Recid_2005.pdf
Document Title: Indiana’s Recidivism Rates Decline for Third Consecutive Year BY: Indiana Department of Correction 2009.
The recidivism rate for sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%, one of the lowest in the nation. In a time when sex offenders continue to face additional post-release requirements that often result in their return to prison for violating technical rules such as registration and residency restrictions, the instances of sex offenders returning to prison due to the commitment of a new sex crime is extremely low. Findings: sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%
Link to Report: http://www.in.gov/idoc/files/RecidivismRelease.pdf
Once again, These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community.
B. These sex offender laws in California (my state) are arbitrary since they are applied in a blanket enforcement policy that makes no distinctions between myself and those who may or may not pose any risk to the public and provides no due process to make those determinations. The registration requirement is unconstitutional in that it saddles me with an “irrefutable presumption” that I am likely to reoffend and so violates my rights to due process of law. I have no “meaningful” opportunity to challenge whether I should be subject to lifetime registration, Even if there was such a process the laws would still be arbitrary as they have no rational basis in my case since I am well beyond the time frame for my risk of re-offense and the laws destabilize my life and actually increase my risk for re-offense, without achieving any legislative objective of increasing public safety, preventing sexual abuse or preventing recidivism.
C. These laws are oppressive as they affect and limit employment as very few employers will hire me simply because I am on a sex offender website that is accessible to the general public. These laws are also oppressive because they restrict or limit my ability to travel for work or to be employed by local, state or federal agencies and severely affects my ability to obtain a business licence or business loans. They also limit what professions and careers that I can pursue and affect my personal and professional relationships in a severely negative way because of my inclusion on the sex offender registry and the publicly accessible Megans law website. These issues are not minor inconveniences but are major obstacles to my financial stability and to my fundamental right to life and liberty for me and my family. It also affects housing because very few property owners or property management organizations will rent to me for fear of vandalism and or the loss of present or potential tenants because of the accessibility to the registry by the general public. I am reluctant to move or purchase property for fear that I may violate some local ordinance or be forced to move because of some new law or ordinance being enacted and applied retroactively. I am also reluctant to move or purchase property for fear that I will be subjected to even worse harrasment and vandalism by the community in which I move then I have allready endured in my present location. These laws also create real fears of being the victim of vigilante attacks, harrasment and vandalism which is oppressive as it makes me limit my activities to avoid being outside of my residence for fear of being harmed or harassed. I have had to call the police twice due to my family and I being physically threatened in one instance and having threats and profanity written all over our porch on the second incident simply because my information is on the Megans law website. We have had our vehicles vandalized and our lifes threatened because I am subject to these registration and notification laws. These laws are also oppressive as they cause me severe psychosocial stressors that cause major mental and physical disorders which can and do affect my abiity to perform job duties or perform normal daily activities and to reintegrate into society. My psychology reports by the parole department states that I was being subjected to psychosocial stressors because I am being subjected to the sex offender registration and notification laws or Megan’s law. Once again these are not hypothetical, exaggerated or isolated incidents that have happened to other people but personal experiences in my case. I cannot move forward or successively reintergrate back into society because of all the collateral consequences caused by the registration and notification laws.The official action of requiring me to registar as a sex offender and the official action which includes my inclusion on the Megans law website is the cause of this oppression. These are severe violations of my fundamental rights. These violations will continue to cause me irreparable damage as long as I am subjected to these registration and notification laws.
4. The sex offender registration and notification laws are completely irrational as applied to me in my case. Since I am a non-violent, first time offender from a incident that occurred over a decade ago there is no rational basis to continue to subject me to these laws that have consequences that destabilize my life and restrict my abilities to reintegrate into society and actually increases my risk of re-offense while not achieving any legislative objective of preventing sexual abuse or increasing public safety. Since these laws have been seen as strictly regulatory in nature and not considered part of the punishment for an offense, there must be some evidence that the regulations actually achieve some legislative objective. These laws were originally designed to give law enforcement a tool to track and apprehend sexually violent predators, child abducters/rapist and habitual repeat offenders when such acts have been committed in the community but have since been expanded to the point to make the registration and notification laws useless to law enforcement or the general public. Just because these laws are so popular within the legislature or the public does not mean that there is a rational basis for such laws. With the facts and evidence of all the destabilizing collateral consequences I endure and all the recent research done on this subject there is overwhelming evidence that these laws are completely irrational and counterproductive especially when applied to non-violent, first time offenders such as myself.
In conclusion.
The sex offender registration and notification laws or Megans law, as applied to me, severely violate my fundamental rights to life, liberty, property, my freedom of movement, my freedom of association. These laws also violate my fundamental privacy rights, my fundamental right to be free from unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive official actions. These laws will continue to cause me irreparable damage if the court fails to grant me relief. No one can doubt that child sexual abuse is traumatic and devastating. The question is not whether the state has an interest in preventing such harm, but whether current laws are effective in doing so. These laws have no rational basis in my case and are actually counterproductive since these laws do in fact increase known risk factors for re-offense without achieving any legitimate legislative objectives in increasing public safety, preventing sexual abuse or preventing recidivism. It is in the publics best interest to grant me this relief as it will decrease my risk for re-offense, increase my ability to reintergrate into society and increase the probability that I will maintain stability in my life and be a law abiding, productive member of society. It will also allow governmental agencies and law enforcement agencies to re-direct their limited resources to monitor high risk offenders more intensively thereby increasing public safety.
Prayer. I pray the court grant me a Declaratory judgement and/or Injunction relief or any other relief the court deems necessary and to enjoin local, state, and federal agencies from requiring me to register as a sex offender and subjecting me to the public notification laws or Megans law. Also, I’m asking the court, if the court deems it necessary, to conduct evidentiary hearings to determine if I should be granted permanent relief from these laws and to appoint me appropriate council during these proceedings since I can not afford an attorney.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to my knowledge on __________ Signed: _____________________________