Sometimes you read a story that just makes you scratch your head and say what the f***?
Florida law requires a registered citizen to report, in person, to the Sheriff within 48 hours of a change in residence and then to the DMV to update their license.
In today’s Jackson County Floridian is an article titled, “Sex Offender Gets Year in Prison After Failing to Register”. Naturally, I clicked on the story to dig into the facts and really had to say wtf?
A 19 year old (yes, nineteen) registered citizen was found living in a tent behind the dollar tree in Washington County, FL. Apparently he had been living there for a week and didn’t register that address, so he got sentenced to a year in prison in Washington County.
When he’s done with the Washington County sentence, he will be transferred back to Jackson County (where he was registered) to face an additional charge there for failure to un-register!
I took a look at his flyer and his case was in 2010, which would have made him 14 (yes, fourteen) at the time of his crime.
So here you have a kid, a child himself, who at 14 entered the system and has to live the life of a sex offender. Through whatever circumstances, he’s now 19 and homeless living in a tent behind a Dollar Tree! Alone, no place to live, probably with greater concerns than remembering to register within 48 hours, and now facing years in prison.
He’s still a teenager! He was a child when he committed his crime! Instead of giving him any shot at a viable life we’ve made life impossible for him. What do you expect? WTF???
Someone please bring this to the attention of his legislators!
I feel very sorry for today’s kids in today’s America. If we had this when I was a kid …oh man, I know a lot of people that would be on that registry. Some of them are even police officers today. Back in my day, we can do anything and just be kids as long as nobody gets killed. Murder and hard core drugs were the only crimes. The way is going now, everything we know soon will be considered criminal. Even breathing the air around us. You would go to jail for coughing to loud, for sneezing too hard, for breathing too much. Geez. That is some scary stuff.
And the Supreme Court said that the registration wasn’t punitive. They said it was no than going to a Price Rite or Sams Club and filling out a membership form. I guess if you do not REGULARLY fill out your Price Rite and Sam’s Club membership form you get a year in prison? I Call that VERY PUNITIVE!!!!!! GOD BLESS THIS CHILD
Unless I’m mistaken, Sam’s Club doesn’t require you shop there at certain times only available during your work day, doesn’t make you separately go to the sheriffs office to disclose every item you purchased, doesn’t put your picture up on a website listing the most embarrassing item you ever bought, doesn’t make you register the vehicles of all the people who live with you, doesn’t show up at your house at all hours of the night asking to see your sales receipt, doesn’t blacklist you from jobs or travel or housing or emergency shelters. Sam’s club doesn’t require a lifetime membership that you can never leave.
Sam’s club members aren’t getting beaten up or killed by vigilantes from Costco.
With Justice Scalia’s death, a staunch conservative, maybe his replacement could be the deciding vote to say the registry in 2016 is punitive. Since the 2003 ruling, one needs to look no further than Florida to see how punitive it has become. Why are states allowed to cherry-pick the most punitive parts of the Adam Walsh Act and yet ignore the relief provisions?
Please send a link to the story or the young man’s name to:
[email protected]
Thank you
Sure Shelly – the information is on it’s way to you.