FAC Weekly Update 2026-08-25-The Wheels of Litigation are Turning

Weekly update for August 25, 2026. This is recording number 388.

Dear Members and Advocates,

There’s nothing quite like being involved in significant litigation. It’s exciting, gratifying, and to be honest – more than a little stressful.

So, here’s where things stand: The wheels of litigation are turning. So far, 10 defendants have been formally served, 7 have agreed to waive service, and the remaining defendants are in the process of being served. The balance of the defendants should be formally served this week.

Once service is complete, we expect the first round of responses – either answers or motions to dismiss – to begin arriving during the first week of October. That will be when things really start to get interesting again.

So far, the response to our lawsuit has been very encouraging. Our Media Committee has been receiving a significant (and, frankly, surprisingly welcoming) number of invitations to discuss the lawsuit. We’ve had a couple more press mentions and we’ve been invited to speak on NPR later this week. The press coverage we’ve received (so far – don’t want to speak too soon) has also been remarkably fair. Perhaps some of the comments to the news stories are of the “woodchipper” genre, but the stories themselves are factual and unbiased, which is all we can ask for.

The coverage has also been tremendously helpful in driving new visitors to our website. On Saturday, we hit a new record of 8,327 visitors. And the percentage of first-time visitors has gone up 258.2% compared to the prior 30 day period. While it may only represent a small percentage of our overall traffic, we’re seeing visitors come in from overseas as well. All this tells us that we’re no longer only “speaking to the choir”, but we’re reaching an audience that was likely totally unaware of what was going on here in Florida or at FAC.

The response from the legal community has been similarly encouraging. We have been and will continue to be speaking with several organizations over the next couple of weeks about ways they may be able to support our challenge. Underlying these discussions is the reminder that this fight is not just about Florida, and it is not just about the sex offender registry. It is about constitutional rights. We understand that not everyone is comfortable with or sympathetic toward the population FAC represents. But constitutional rights are not reserved for people we like, people we agree with, or people we approve of. What happens to one group’s constitutional rights today can become the precedent used against another group tomorrow. This is bigger than just Florida and bigger than just the registry. It is about the principle that the Constitution protects everyone in this country.

And perhaps the most important and encouraging response we’ve received to date is the response from you – our members and advocates. There’s no better way to describe it than heartwarming. We know this lawsuit is a huge deal for you, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. For many of us, whether registrants or loved ones, this case can be life changing. Which is why we’ll keep updating you in our weeklies, adding new information to our website, and disseminating updates to our County Coordinators so they can keep anyone without internet access in the loop.

Last week we added a donation thermometer to the homepage of the FAC website so you can monitor our fundraising progress. Our finance committee will do its best to update the amount weekly. We will also continue to update the informational page dedicated to the lawsuit, whenever material documents are filed. We won’t bother you with the minutiae of every affidavit of service or routine procedural filing. But when something important happens – such as a scheduling order being entered or a defendant filing an answer or motion to dismiss – you’ll be able to find it on that page.

We are still very early in what we expect to be a long and consequential legal battle. There will undoubtedly be victories, setbacks, surprises, and a ton of legal paperwork along the way. But for now, things are moving exactly as they should.

In the meantime, there are a few things you can be doing to help the cause. If you’ve not joined FAC, please visit our website, https://floridaactioncommittee.org and click join. There is no cost to become a member, and our entire membership is the plaintiff in this lawsuit. If you’re listening to this weekly update on the recording because you don’t have internet access, you can call 833-273-7325, leave a message for Membership, and we’ll make sure to get you what you need to join. If you go to treatment group, feel free to share that toll-free number with others.  The other thing you can do (and unfortunately, we need to keep asking) is make a donation to our General Legal Fund, of which 100% will go directly towards this lawsuit. You can find the donation link here: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/donations/.

We will continue to keep you posted and future weekly updates will get back to including the multiple other projects we are constantly working on. Thank you for standing with us, supporting this effort, and believing that change is possible.

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee