Courts are not always unbiased
Two recent decisions in Florida:
- Lawrence Taylor failed to report a change of address to authorities. Prosecutors in Broward County, Florida, dropped the charges.
- An FAC member, John Doe, recently failed to report a change of address, which triggered a domino effect that has him now serving ten years in prison.
Lawrence Taylor is a famous NFL football player. His attorney placed part of the blame on Taylor’s ex-wife for the failure to register. Taylor also failed to report a change of address in 2021, but “Taylor did not knowingly commit any criminal offense.” It was all a misunderstanding.
John Doe also was going through stress because his ex-wife had kicked him out of their home. His emotional state was at its worst so that when he found a place to live, with the trauma of his wife leaving him, the last thing on his mind was that he needed to register his new address within 48 hours.
Some days later, John Doe remembered that the address change needed to be reported, which he did immediately. The unfortunate thing for Doe was that he is a human being, not a robot, who will forget things occasionally, particularly under times of stress. Judges forget; legislators forget; law enforcement officials forget; and prosecutors forget. But Persons Forced to Register, they are not allowed to forget, even if they have dementia.
I was present at the court house on the day of Doe’s sentencing. I was present to witness Doe’s agony knowing that he was going away for ten years for failure to register a change of address. I saw the anguish in his face simply because he “forgot.” He had no high-paid attorney saying, “Mr. John Doe did not knowingly commit any criminal offense. This situation is a significant misunderstanding.”
These were two similar situations with two completely different outcomes. What I learned was that it matters who you are in life. Some people call this a respector of persons. I call it injustice.
John Doe’s outcome will be shared in one of our speeches that will be read throughout the state at the upcoming delegation meetings.
Not sure where to put this but I am shocked. I looked up someone who use to register with me and hadn’t been able to get a hold of them. I found them on the registry as deceased. I looked up all the people in his county on the registry in Florida for just ONE county. I found over 100 registered offenders who are dead in just ONE county.
How is that helping anyone be safe? A dead man (Also saw dead women there as well) cannot harm anyone. Also, again, Florida has 67 counties and I just found 100 in one county. I am about to cry right now. No matter what someone did, once they pass away, my opinion it is up to God to judge them, not us. May they all rest in peace, their families sure are not at peace. They did remove the addresses so I guess that is a plus for those who still live there.
I even searched small rural Florida counties and there were lists and list of deceased registered people. If I had the guts to do it, I would go to the news with that story. I am sure the registry is being paid for each one of those deceased.