Member Submission: Statement prior to registration
Recently I attended the Safe and Just Michigan You Tube conference. I wrote a suggestion in the comments section calling on all Floridians to read a brief (10-15 second long) statement to the registering officer every time, immediately prior to registration.
I was asked by Judith Levine (a national advocate who was on the panel) to please present this idea for consideration.
I feel that this must be a national mandate. For, if we are silent, then we give our tacit consent.
Here is the text of the statement, which I am recommending:
” Before we begin, it is my duty to read the following short statement: I fully intend to comply with Florida (or whatever state) law and to provide you with all of the information that you demand during this interrogation. However, I am both a Florida and US citizen who currently is under no criminal sanction whatsoever. As a representative of the government, you have no right to any of my personal information. You are about to violate several of my rights under the United States constitution. And I object .”
Thank You.
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I had to register in April over the phone where I live. In the past I’ve had civilians who work at the registration say they think all of this is a waste. I’ve also had cops say I know your not a threat yet I have to waste my time checking you when I rather eat my donuts. Part of me thinks that people who work at these agencies don’t want to rock the boat. On the other hand it could be wishful thinking on my end.
Most people generally understand that sex offenders don’t want to register, and that they are doing so only as required by law.
That’s why objecting to registration, or asserting our view that it’s a rights violation, in and of itself is unlikely to persuade. But for some people it could boost self-esteem.
Absolutely. Silence is consent.
People don’t have to be rude but EVERYONE should take EVERY opportunity to speak out against the Registries at every single possible opportunity, every single time.
It doesn’t have to be some super elaborate statement. Every time I hear “registries are unconstitutional”, for example, I can only roll my eyes. I don’t give a f*ck if Registries are constitutional or not, they are an act of war. All that matters. People can use humor. Or be sarcastic. Whatever. But say SOMETHING. Heck, I’ve tried to high-five officers before. Don’t recall anyone actually doing it though, lol. I said something like, “You can’t waste too many taxpayer resources, am I right?!” and tried to high-five him. Just looked at me.
JeffR said, “I understand that the officers are just doing their jobs. I also know that most of them are decent, respectable and kind people.” It’s true that they have to do the job and I don’t fault them for it. But I will complain to anyone who has ears. And if I find out that someone thinks Registries are acceptable, then I can say anything or disrespect them if I prefer. Also, MOST people can appear “decent, respectable and kind” MOST of the time. But most people are not. Most people don’t give a damn about you, your spouse, or your children and they will let harm fall on you if they are inconvenienced in any way. It is easy to be “decent, respectable and kind” in normal situations. That says nothing of a person’s soul or character. I expect it is a lot more accurate that most people are not good people and are only good when it is working for them. Don’t we have enough evidence of that?
I wonder how many registered citizens know about advocacy groups across the country regardless of what their sentence. It’s understandable people are ashamed; don’t want to rock the boat and think that their participation doesn’t matter. Writing to legislators and journalists about their bills/news stories can be extremely overwhelming; however planting a seed might just happen when they hear opposing views. Today our society is fear driven and divides us in the end. Bad things happen when good people do nothing; yet you can still do something behind the scenes instead of being front and center. With truth on our side hopefully these laws will be a stain on our history and done before we are skeletons (that’s if you can still be buried in graveyards because you might violate someone).