A few miles from Miami International Airport, outside of Hialeah, sits a tent camp of about 280 homeless people. There’s no electricity or running water and no bathrooms. News reports describe the stench of human waste and garbage, tents that flood when it rains, and flies, mosquitoes, and rats infesting the area. “Animals live better than this,” one resident told a reporter. He and the others there are on the state sex offender registry. Miami-Dade County laws make it almost impossible for them to find places to live and bar…
Read MoreTag: Florida
FL: Florida registry gets a new look
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The FDLE sex offender database has gotten a new look. The homepage of its sex offender search has a nautical feel, with a lighthouse logo and a ship-wheel icon. Aside from the design change, the ability to search by status (absconded, deceased, deported, etc.) appears to be gone from the new search query, though the results still appear. Another notable change is that vehicle and vessel information is no longer on a separate page, but appears below the registrant listing. The vehicle information, which is supplied by the DMV…
Read MoreFL: Jackson County Proposes 2500 feet Sex Offender Residency Restriction
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Jackson County, Florida is considering enacting a Sex Offender Residency Restriction (SORR). According to this article, the county currently has a 1000 foot ordinance, which they are looking to increase to 2500 feet. “Our whole goal is not to punish anyone, it’s just to make our community safer,” Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Quinton Hollis said. In fact, studies have shown that residency restrictions DO NOT make the communities safer and may even increase recidivism by destabilizing former offenders. SORRs were just declared to be punitive in the City…
Read MoreFL: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Sex Offender Residency Restriction Declared Unconstitutional
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The Ft Lauderdale Sex Offender Residency Restriction was declared unconstitutional. Wait… what?!?! A Florida SORR was declared unconstitutional? YES! The municipal ordinance in the City of Ft. Lauderdale that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 1400 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, school bus stops, etc. was found to violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution! Hold on… what? Are you serious? YES! We’ve known for a while (since February 16th) but have been waiting to make the official announcement until we had an order back from…
Read MoreFL: Gov. Rick Scott Signs Two Sex Offender Bills Into Law
[UPDATED LINKS 3/26/18] [flsenate.gov, spacecoastdaily.com] As reported on spacecoastdaily.com State website links: https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/01301 CS/HB 1301: Sexual Offenders and Predators. GENERAL BILL by Justice Appropriations Subcommittee ; Fitzenhagen ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Hager ; Spano Sexual Offenders and Predators; Reducing aggregate & consecutive number of days used to determine residency for purposes of sexual predator or sexual offender registration; provides for mandatory sentence of community control with electronic monitoring for certain offenses committed by sexual predators & sexual offenders if court does not impose prison sentence. Related links for CS/HB 1301: Governor Scott…
Read MoreFL: Orange Beach homicide victim identified as registered sex offender
[weartv.com] The Orange Beach Police Department has identified a homicide victim as a registered sex offender. Police said 53-year-old Raymond Curtis Dudley has been identified as the body found Thursday near Cypress Street and Wolf Bay. Investigators say Dudley is originally from Massachusetts and a registered sex offender. Police are asking anyone who may have been in contact with Dudley on March 21 to contact them at (251) 981-9777. See original article
Read MoreFL: A National Push For Victims’ Rights is Now Hitting Florida. But Critics Are Fighting Back
[injusticetoday.com] Voters in Florida may soon get to decide whether to give victims of crime a bigger say in the criminal justice system. A proposed amendment to the state constitution known as Marsy’s Law for Florida would enshrine specific rights for crime victims, such as the right to privacy and the “right to be reasonably protected from the accused.” It would also give victims legal standing to testify during hearings to determine a defendant’s bail, sentencing, plea deals and parole. “The pain a victim suffers in the aftermath of a…
Read MoreFL: Junk science leads to father’s wrongful arrest, false accusation of raping his son
[washingtonpost.com] During the ritual-sex-abuse panic of the 1980s and 1990s, children undergoing recovered memory therapy and other dubious psychological treatment recounted crimes so horrific and depraved, they’re hard to even think about. They described bizarre satanic-themed sex abuse where children were penetrated with knives. They described orgies with adults and children who could barely walk. They described animal and human sacrifice. A big reason why these kids were believed despite the complete lack of physical evidence — if children were murdered, there should have been children in the area who…
Read MoreFL: Ordinance would keep sex offenders from living in Vernon
[UPDATED links 3/7/18] [wjhg.com] VERNON, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – The Vernon City Council is in the process of adopting an ordinance that would prohibit sex offenders and predators from living in the city limits. Both Bonifay and Chipley have adopted a similar ordinance, causing more offenders to move into Vernon. “It was actually recommended by our attorney because she has been working with other communities who are adopting the ordinances and so she said it would be a good idea for us to address the issue,” Vernon mayor Tina Sloan said.…
Read MoreFL: Urgent call to action – Stop Senate Bill 1226 and House Bill 1301
[UPDATED 3/10/18] 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. Read more [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…
Read MoreFL: Florida bill would effectively ban sex offenders from vacation rentals
[UPDATED links 2/26/18] [floridaactioncommittee.org] A new bill concerning vacation rentals, HB 773, sponsored by Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, is making it’s way through the Florida House of Representatives. (https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=768073.docx&DocumentType=Amendments&BillNumber=0773&Session=2018) The bill, among other things, would require vacation rental owners to give 24-hour notice to residents who live within 1,000 feet of the properties that sex offenders will be staying at the rentals. While it does not expressly ban sex offenders from vacation rentals in Florida, its effect would be that it would require vacation rental owners to inquire…
Read MoreFL: Registrant Denied Access to Hospital For Son’s Surgery
[floridaactioncommittee.org] A member contacted us this week. He’s on the registry for an offense that took place over 15 years ago. He brought his son to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando for surgery and was denied access at the door because of his status on the registry. These policies that prevent former offenders from ever parenting their children are ridiculous! When someone looks back on their childhood and reflects on the meaningful events when a parent was there for them, they think of sporting events, graduations, illnesses. Laws that banish…
Read MoreFL: Sex offenders — decision needed
[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Some members of our society are shadow people, so marginalized that they are hanging on by their fingernails. Some have a slightly firmer grip, but they are perched precariously close to the edge, so close that they can be hurled into the abyss by a mere word, accusation, or click of a mouse. In Florida colonies of these shadow people survive, sleeping at night in the woods, under bridges, and in railroad yards, and now the man who is almost solely responsible for this…
Read MoreFL: More Than Half the Registered Sex Offenders in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida are Homeless
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The City of Ft. Lauderdale’s ordinance has caused more than half of the registered sex offenders in the city to be homeless. The City ordinance, which banishes sex offenders from; “within one thousand four hundred (1,400) feet of any of the following:(1) Any school where the majority of the population attending are students less than sixteen (16) years of age; (2) Designated public school bus stop; (3) Child day care facility as defined in the city’s Unified Land Development Regulations where the majority of the population attending are students…
Read MoreFL: Maxwell: Sun Sentinel Editorial: Gov. Rick Scott has no credibility on rights restoration
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Gov. Rick Scott claims that he, not a federal judge, should determine how Florida restores the civil rights of ex-felons. Seriously? That would be like having Bill Belichick design the Dolphins’ game plans against the Patriots. Watch the video: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/95047063-132.html Scott made this absurd argument Monday in response to the Feb. 1 ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker that Florida’s Jim Crow-era system for how ex-felons can regain their rights is arbitrary and thus unconstitutional. A Scott spokesman said authority for clemency rests with “officials elected by Floridians,…
Read MoreFL: Man accused of killing cellmate: ‘There’s one less child molester’
[kcra.com] Florida authorities say an inmate who killed his cellmate last month while awaiting trial for killing another cellmate in 2015 is now in solitary confinement. The Panama City News Herald reports 21-year-old Frederick Patterson III said he killed his 82-year-old cellmate Arthur Williams on Jan. 15, and told correctional officers that “there’s one less child molester on the streets.” Advertisement Patterson, a convicted burglar, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for killing 45-year-old Scott Collinsworth, a convicted robber, in the Apalachee Correctional Institution. Patterson now faces a first-degree…
Read MoreFL: According to Homeless Trust, over 45% of Homeless in Miami-Dade County are Sex Offenders
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Last month, Ron Book was out with his “Homeless Trust” to count the homeless in Miami-Dade. Yes, literally, to manually count the homeless. According to this article, the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust counts the homeless twice a year in January and in August, but “tonight’s count is the one that counts for federal funding.” Counts for “federal funding”… no wonder Ron Book is on hand for that one. If it means more money for him, you can be sure he’ll be hands-on. But what about the stats? The article states,…
Read MoreFL: Four years after being called out on poor public policy, Florida is STILL putting children at risk
[sosen.org] On April 14, 2014, A national coalition of members of CURE, CURE-SORT, FAC, USA Fair and WAR members joined together to ask Florida legislators, “Why are the many children and families of former offenders being placed in danger from missed opportunities of effective legislation?” “Are the children of citizens on the sex offender registry less valuable to law makers?” Nearly four full years later, we are still awaiting a satisfactory answer. As of May 24, 2017, there were 69,917 people listed on the Florida state sex offender registry and…
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