UPDATED CALL TO ACTION: Brevard County. Oppose proposed ordinance
[FAC NOTE: This is turning on absurd. Now businesses will be able to order persons forced to register can’t go within 1000 feet of their business?!?!]
As it stands, any person convicted of sex offenses involving minors cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, park or playground. The county’s current ordinance only states offenders cannot be within 1,000 feet from a school, daycare or playground. According to this article, County Commissioner John Tobias is hopeful that list will soon include some local businesses. “It’s an ordinance at the county level. State has a buffer and we’ve expanded that,” he said.
“It would give law enforcement the ability to arrest one of these offenders or predators who are within that 1,000 foot buffer from the business,” Tobias said. [The new ordinance would create a] new voluntary registry, certifying their business is a place where children regularly congregate, which would restrict sexual offenders and sexual predators from coming within 1,000 feet of the business. Opting in is free for a business.
[FAC NOTE: Please take action]
UPDATED: If you are near Brevard and would like to attend the meeting tomorrow, July 21, 2020, it will take place at 9:00 AM at the Brevard County Government Center,2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way (at Stadium Parkway),Viera, FL 32940
For those of you who have the time between now and Tuesday morning, please send an email to the commissioners listed below (or one email to all) stating your opposition to this proposed ordinance:
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If Brevard is to be made safer, law enforcement will need to focus its resources on solving sex crimes and other violent crimes. Yet the county’s clearance rate for violent crimes (including sex crimes) is just 55% (see below).
https://data.naplesnews.com/fdle-crime-report/brevard/2018/clearance-rates/
Brevard cannot afford to have law enforcement resources having to figure out whether the right people are within the right proximity of the right places, or responding to calls from business owners who believe they’ve spotted someone they don’t like. If they do, it will not improve law enforcement’s crime solving capabilities. And given what we know about who is on the registry and who isn’t, it certainly won’t help prevent any new crimes. Instead, it will involve law enforcement in sort of a security theater, where they appear to make children safer but aren’t.
(Feel free to use that).
I know that a statute or ordinance can be ruled as arbitrary or vague if the criminal conduct can’t be clearly defined or understood. In this case the prohibited conduct is clear but is the lack of a persons ability to comply with the law/ordinance because the information isn’t obtainable make it just as vague? Again, FAC legal, your thoughts??
This is a SUPER lawsuit. The challenge is bringing it on a County-wide level because proximity ordinances only exist in a couple counties.
A good lawsuit would have statewide effects in preventing other counties from going down that path. While I’m tempted to think, “my family’s safe because MY county would never do what Brevard does,” such an ordinance is just too tempting for enterprising new county council members throughout the state (and their colleagues who are afraid to oppose them).
Really? Which counties in Florida DO NOT have a proximity ordinance? Anyone? I’d be interested to know how many of the 67 Florida counties do not have this. I actually thought it was written into the Florida State Statutes. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=sex+offender+residency&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.215.html
If anyone has specifics that we can add to an email regarding this, I’m ready to send mine now. I live in FL but not Brevard.
Most counties DO NOT have a proximity ordinance. You cited a RESIDENCY RESTRICTION (can not live). A PROXIMITY ORDINANCE dictates where you cannot go.
Should we point out to Brevard County the fact that Florida’s registry is under fire in the state and federal courts for being unconstitutional on many grounds? How about the case from the 2nd DCA of Florida holding that any person who has not completely fulfilled their sanctions from conviction are NOT REQUIRED TO REGISTER. Therefore, these ordinances are illegal
I appreciate FAC acting so quickly in this. I was blown away when I read the article last Friday.
I sent my email in last night.
I made sure to point out in my email and I feel it’s important for everyone to do the same. There’s no comprehensive map or listing of areas that are off limits for the CURRENT ordinance. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Department will not check addresses for compliance with the current ordinance, I know because I’ve tried. How are we supposed to comply with an ordinance that we have no way of determining the boundaries for??
FAC legal, is this something that can be challenged?
Yes, this is 1000% something that can be challenged and should be challenged.
I am out of county but would be happy to donate to legal challenge if this dumb thing passes. There needs to be better precedent so that other counties will think twice. I’ll bet I’m not alone in this.
If the lawyers feel this is a good one, let’s start funding!
This is probably one where just a real threat of a lawsuit would make them back down.
It’s not something I have to financial resources to do right now. I going to a early termination request hearing in August so after that I’d be more than willing to be the guinea pig for this.
Maybe an issue for the Brevard office of the ACLU?? I know that they generally steer clear of anything that pertains to sex offenders or sex offenses.
Hi Roger. I hope very much that your termination request is granted. Please follow up with us regarding your experiences at the hearing, including anything that you learn that might help others. I have a lot to learn about this myself. Thanks, in advance. And good luck!
Is this another Lauren Book deal or are there even more Idiots in Brevard?
It has nothing to do with her.
Here’s a good source of information on some of the Books’ indiscretions:
http://ronandlaurenbook.blogspot.com/
Other counties will adopt this if it passes in Brevard.
For those of us from out of county, if we e-mail Brevard commissioners, too, will they consider? And if they’ve never heard of us and look us up and we’re on the registry, any chance they’ll still take our views seriously?
Yes – all who oppose this should.
Yes, write today, please! We now have 5 people on the media committee. God is good. Three of us do not live in Brevard County, but all 3 sent emails to the 5 commissioners. A letter to the editor has also been sent to the Orlando Sentinel. Two media members do live in Brevard and have also sent emails. Thank you all! We need as many as possible to contact these commissioners — it does not matter where you live as this proposed ordinance will affect any registrant who passes through Brevard County.
On a side note after seeing the comments here about Ms. Book, for the FAC member on our last membership call who made this request, the media committee has sent a letter to Ms. Book requesting Lauren’s Kids consider helping all children, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, by providing appropriate educational material on their level pertaining to preventative ways to stay off the registry. She was also asked to help as a legislator in using diversion methods instead of incarceration whenever a person with IDD is caught up in the criminal justice system. To do otherwise is barbaric.
We are so fortunate to have Media Committee members already on the ground in Brevard. Let’s all take a few minutes to chip in and support this effort today.
And THANK YOU, Media Committee, for pressing Sen. Book on the IDD issue. Let’s see if kids with IDDs are important to her!