[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 MoreTag: Florida
FL: 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…
Read MoreFL: I count too!
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Last night I lay awake in bed with a puzzle racking my brain. How can I finish the sentence “sex offenders shouldn’t be allowed to vote, because ____”? It’s an exercise I go through often, and certainly during every legislation session, where someone comes up with a new “sex offender” rule and I try to play devil’s advocate and come up with some previously unforeseeable scenario, where I can make the rule seem rational. Sex offenders can’t be garbage men? OK… how about ‘sex offenders shouldn’t be allowed to…
Read MoreFL: My boyfriend is a registered sex offender
[bbc.co.uk] House-hunting always comes with challenges, right? One bed or two? Are the bills included? And, of course, the location. But, for my boyfriend and I, it was on a whole new level, because we had to find somewhere very specific. He’s on probation, convicted nearly nine years ago, when he was 18, of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation and one count of Lewd and Lascivious Battery, more commonly known as statutory rape of a child older than 12 but younger than 16. The probation means that any flat or house…
Read MoreFL: A residential ministry deals with the sex offender registry
Baptist minister Glenn Burns calls the evening of April 7, 2016, the “crucifixion.” It was the toughest test of his 40-year career. Burns leads a Christian social services ministry in northern Florida called the Good Samaritan Network. Until last April, the nonprofit was headquartered in the town of Woodville, just outside Tallahassee. Its food bank served 7,000 people a month. It also ran a thrift store and a home for women transitioning off the street from sex work. And it operated a Christian home for men reentering society after prison…
Read MoreFL: Call To Action: Miami-Dade to Consider Bovo Amendment Tomorrow
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Tomorrow, at the regular meeting of county commissioners, the “Bovo Amendment” will be considered. The Amendment seeks to remove a safeguard contained in the overnight camping ordinance that would require homeless who are sleeping overnight on public property, be afforded the opportunity to go to a homeless shelter before being arrested. In other words, Miami-Dade wants the ability to arrest homeless sex offenders on sight. More specifically, since the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust Chair could not find a solution to the transient sex offender problem in 10 years, his…
Read MoreFL: ClearMyCase suit DISMISSED!
[floridaactioncommittee.org] We are pleased to have learned that Judge Dimitrouleas DISMISSED the lawsuit filed against us by ClearMyCase. For some time we’d been receiving complaints from FAC members and registrants from other states about a company out of Texas called ClearMyCase.com. The company had been using the State Sex Offender registries as a mailing list to solicit “fees” to help “de-register” people from the Sex Offender Registry. Read more
Read MoreFL: Another Reason why Sex Offender Registration Fees are a Bad Idea
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Sex offender registration fees are a bad idea. Setting aside the constitutionality of charging individuals for the “privilege” of registering as a sex offender – something that’s not only involuntary but that all would certainly prefer not to do – and claiming it’s not a “penalty”, it’s a logistical nightmare. Because of the public website and the stigma that comes with it, most registered sex offenders are either grossly underemployed or unemployed. Many of the collateral consequences of being a registrant are extremely expensive. Registrants are required, in most…
Read MoreFL: Inside the isolated US community dubbed the ‘Miracle Village’
[dailymail.co.uk] From the outside it looks like any sleepy suburb, but the so-called ‘Miracle Village’ contains a much darker secret. Indeed, half of the population in the Florida community are registered sex offenders, who are forced to live away from the rest of society. The so-called village, located outside of Pahokee, features in a new BBC documentary presented by Stacey Dooley looking at laws in the state that punish paedophiles and other sex offenders for life. Read more
Read MoreFL: Proposed legislation would require landlords to provide proof of employee background checks
State Senator Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) has introduced legislation that would require landlords to disclose when they’ve run background checks on their employees, Mike Vasilinda of Capitol News Service reports. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Lawsuit over ‘defamatory’ ECSO billboard dismissed
A man who claims he was falsely labeled as a sexual predator on a law enforcement billboard had his defamation lawsuit thrown out Monday. Full Article
Read MoreFL: New school program helps first-time sex offenders
[Ocala.com] Students engaged in consensual sexual activity Each school year, about three dozen Marion County students on average get kicked out of school after being caught groping or engaged in a consensual sex act on a school bus or on campus. To reduce the amount of lost instruction time, the School District will launch a new diversion program in January for first-time offenders in hopes of keeping these students in the classroom. Students caught in the act can forgo attending an alternative school if they attend six nights of after-school…
Read MoreFL: Oconomowoc tweaks sex offender residency restrictions in wake of federal court decision
[Florida Journal Sentinel] CITY OF OCONOMOWOC – The common council on Tuesday, Dec. 5, voted to repeal and replace the city’s 2011 ordinance outlining residency restrictions for registered sex offenders, joining a handful of other area communities to do so in the wake of lawsuits and a federal court decision earlier this year. Under the new rules, registered sex offenders who did not live in the city at the time of their offense could petition the common council to move into Oconomowoc. Such offenders are currently barred from attempting…
Read MoreFL: Death of sex offender in Georgia State Prison suspicious
[Florida Action Committee] Charles Lee Broady was halfway into a three-year sentence for failure to register as a sex offender when he was found dead, hanging in his cell. Next week, Broady was supposed to appear in Federal Court in a case he brought against the Georgia Department of Corrections after officers allowed gang members to attack him. The previous attacks had been so bad that, after one, his heart stopped and he had to be revived. His family suspects foul play. Read article
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