Tag: Florida

Source: floridabulldog.org 5/10/23 Self-appointed justice reformer Jonathan Bleiweiss, credibly accused of molesting 25 men when he was a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy, has shut down an attempt to send him back to prison for a long stretch. Prosecutors wanted substantial prison time to punish Bleiweiss for violating his probation. Under the terms of a generous 2015 plea deal, he served less than four years of a five-year sentence for multiple counts of battery, stalking and armed false imprisonment, at the same time ducking a possible life sentence for multiple sex…

Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 4/26/23 Florida residents, write and call today! There are multiple bills and amendments that would do things like assign a distinctive, fluorescent green license plate, red coloring on driver’s licenses, and require 24-hour vacation rental reporting. This will be voted on TOMORROW, Thursday, April 27, 2023. Read the details and take action today  

Source: gwhatchet.com 4/6/23 The chair of Foggy Bottom’s local governing body is a registered sex offender in Florida, and court records reveal a criminal history he had not publicly disclosed in D.C. before this week. Joel Causey – the highest-ranking official on the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, which represents residents on and near campus – was convicted in 1998 for a sexual offense involving a boy under 16 years old in Jacksonville, Florida between 1995 and 1996, according to Duval County, Florida court documents. ANC commissioners…

Source: news-journalonline.com 3/28/23 A sex offender acquitted last year of kidnapping and rape charges was found guilty Tuesday of unrelated charges of failing to properly register. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Jason Nicholas Minton, 46, of Orange City, was found guilty of two counts of failure of a sex offender to properly register; each is a third-degree felony punishable by up five years in prison. He was found not guilty of a third count of failure of a sex offender to properly register. Read the full article…

Source: tampabay.com 2/27/23 A Hillsborough County man who was the first person in Florida to face trial on charges of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election was sentenced Monday to two years of probation. Nathan Hart, 49, was arrested in August as part of a sweep announced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in which about 20 people were arrested on voter fraud charges related to the 2020 election …. During the trial, Hart took the stand and explained that he was approached by a man outside a Hillsborough County…

Source: The United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit 2/9/23 The question before us in this appeal—one of first impression—is whether Florida’s registration and reporting requirements for sex offenders render those offenders “in custody” within the meaning of § 2254(a). Though the question is difficult given Supreme Court and Eleventh Circuit precedent, our answer is no. … The Florida sex offender registration statute, in contrast, did not impose a “sentence” and did not constitute “punishment.” Download a PDF of the decision: Eleventh-Circuit-Ruling-No.-21-12540-D.C.-Docket-No.-217-cv-00396-JLB-NPM.pdf

Source: tampabay.com 1/26/23 Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a tough-on-crime agenda ahead of the upcoming legislative session, including proposals to expand the death penalty to certain types of sex crimes and mandating life sentences for people convicted of selling fentanyl that looks like candy to children. “We want to make sure that we cement our reputation as being a law-and-order state and take actions as necessary to help further protect the people of the state of Florida,” he said during a news conference Thursday at the Miami Police Benevolent Association hall.…