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(NOTE: Rep email addresses have been fixed. 3/31)
Major Concerns About This Bill:
- This is the Senate companion bill to HB 1085, which is moving through the House committees.
- SB 1252 would require “SEXUAL PREDATOR” and “943.0435” to be printed in a distinctive format and in RED on driver’s licenses and identification cards.
- SB 1252 is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, & Economic Development.
- Information on the Louisiana and Alabama court cases have been sent to the analysts of the committees that the “red lettering” bills have passed through so far. One analyst even thanked us for making her aware of them; yet, these court cases are not showing up in the analyses. We need to make sure that every legislator that is sitting on a committee that SB 1252 (and HB 1085) goes through is aware of these cases, particularly the ruling in the Alabama case. These legislators need to know that they are voting on a bill that is unconstitutional.
PLEASE Do the Following:
- Call all members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, & Economic Development.
- Whether you talk to a person or voicemail, you must give your name and contact information (phone numbers work). Remember that all voicemails are checked, so you can call after hours.
- State that you OPPOSE the part of the bill that would require the red lettering on driver’s licenses for people on the registry.
- Mention that you are a constituent if you happen to live in the representative’s district.
- Give two brief reasons why you oppose the red lettering on the licenses.
- Ask family members and friends to also call to oppose the red lettering.
Talking Points:
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Louisiana’s appeal of a decision against its 2006 law requiring that people on the sex offense registry have their driver’s license or identification card marked with “SEX OFFENDER” in orange letters. The Louisiana Supreme Court said the marking was compelled speech and could not be justified by the state’s interest in protecting public safety.
- In 2019, a federal judge struck down Alabama’s sex offense registration law that required registrants to carry a driver’s license or official ID with “CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER” emblazoned in red.
- If this bill is passed as is, will Florida also be facing a costly lawsuit?
- Schools are using visitor management systems, such as Raptor, to compare a visitor’s driver’s license against a sex offense database.
- Senator Pizzo brought up in the Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee that theme parks and other places already scan the barcode on the licenses which picks up whether or not the license holder is on the registry. His implication was that this procedure makes the red markings unnecessary.
- There are currently 52 registry requirements for people on the sex offense registry. Every Florida legislator should have received a copy of the timeline of these registry requirements that started off with 3 in 1997 and have grown to 52 by 2020. Failure to fulfill any of these requirements could lead up to 5 years of imprisonment, even for the thousands of Florida registrants who are now law-abiding citizens.
We strongly suggest you DO NOT THREATEN LAWSUITS AS THE THREATS DO NOT DETER THE LEGISLATORS. IT DOES TEND TO ANTAGONIZE THEM AND DISMISSES THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE REST OF YOUR MESSAGE.
Phone Numbers for the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, & Economic Development:
- Ed Hooper (Chair – R): (850) 487-5021; [email protected]
- Jay Trumbull (Vice Chair – R): (850) 487-5002; [email protected]
- Jay Collins (R): ( 850) 487-5014; [email protected]
- Nick DiCeglie (R): ( 850) 487-5018; [email protected]
- Erin Grall (R): (850) 487-5029; [email protected]
- Keith Perry (R): (850) 487-5009; [email protected]
- Tina Scott Polsky (D): (850) 487-5030; [email protected]
- Bobby Powell (D): (850) 487-5024; [email protected]
- Linda Stewart (D): (850) 487-5017; [email protected]
- Geraldine F. Thompson (D): (850) 487-5015; [email protected]
- Tom A. Wright (R): (850) 487-5008; [email protected]
- Clay Yarborough (R): (850) 487-5004; [email protected]
Every call gets heard and tallied. Every respectful conversation with a staffer is an excellent opportunity to change a mind about our community with someone who has direct contact with a lawmaker. YOUR EFFORTS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
This Call To Action has been SUPERSEDED.
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The branding of Driver’s licenses and IDs is state compelled speech. If the case is won branding would clearly do away with the red letters as well.
I am currently looking for a top notch First Ammendment Attorney. That is what we need as this is not a Registry issues its a first ammendment issue.
Run it by https://narsol.org/litigation-request-or-proposal-form/ they might want to join as co-council.
By putting red letters on your driver’s license is another form of punishment. When a cop pulls you over for any reason, the first thing they do is run your license plate. Your registry status will come up on their computer. The best thing I’ve ever did was leave Floriduh.
If Registries worked and Red Lettering worked , wouldn’t it be used for the drug dealers that are killing children and adults? Maybe voters need to be educated on what their legislators can do to their lives by not having data to prove their reasons for making and passing laws that does nothing to protect anyone. There is just no common sense to the registry or red lettering.
I remember a short story about a woman that had a Scarlet letter on her forehead. I guess the message got forgotten.
I surmise one of the reasons they’re doing this license thing is to discourage us from voting. To keep us from registering to vote. They know the poll workers will turn away anyone that shows them this branded license Then the state can say “See, we fixed the “vagueness” and “those people” can’t play dumb anyone using voting as an excuse in an attempt to slip into one of our schools to get close to “our children.”
The hate is so predictable and exhausting.
I have the right to vote as I have had my civil rights restored. So if they do turn me away because of my license having red lettering on it would be denying me of my civil rights. The lawsuit would be “HUGE”.
It’s difficult for me to express my frustration with FAC’s continued reliance on these court cases. Only a superficial reading of them would support our position on this bill. An equally superficial reading could be employed by the bill’s sponsors in support.
I agree. It would be great to discover what the real impetus is behind this bill, and combat that directly rather than launching the same tired counteroffensive over and over again.
From what I have seen in these committee meetings, our legislators do not seem to have the wherewithal to understand what they are voting on or the repercussions that the bills they vote into law will have on society.
They are a tight-knit group that seems to think whatever their colleague says must be true. No fact checking and no reliance on research is evident.
I have more that I would like to say on this subject but know that our moderator will not allow it, and rightfully so.
They also seem less concerned about public opinion than they did even one session ago, when our calls seemed more impactful.
I agree with the BILL which intends to protect all concerned, THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
If the bill protected anyone, we’d likely favor it. What it ‘intends’ to do is not relevant
Darrick can you articulate exactly HOW this bill protects anyone when we already have identifiers on our licenses?
Bills like this are only designed to further demean, embarrass, and punish. It does nothing to protect the public. Atrocities have been committed using the excuse that it protects children.
you think kids are asking people for their ID or….? do you think the guy at the gas station while I’m buying beer who asks to see my ID needs to know this information about me? or when I’m buying a car it’s protecting kids somehow?
None of this “let everyone know” campaign makes any sense. I’m just trying to live my [moderated] life.