CALL TO ACTION #4 for HB 1085 – Moved to new committee: Infrastructure Strategies Committee
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Major Concerns About This Bill:
- The bill states that all driver’s licenses and identification cards for people on the registry “shall have printed in the color red all information otherwise required to be printed on the front of the license or identification card.”
- This bill has now passed two committees and is in the Infrastructure Strategies Committee.
- Even though the court decisions for the Louisiana and Alabama cases have been sent to the analysts, it appears that the legislators are not allowing the analysts to include this information in their analyses.
PLEASE Do the Following:
- Call all members of the Infrastructure Strategies Committee.
- 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.
- While there is no research showing a need for the red lettering on licenses, there is an abundance of research showing that the sexual recidivism rate for people with a past sex offense is lower than that for all other crimes, with the exception of murder.
- Research has shown that at 90% or more of FUTURE sex crimes will be committed by people NOT on the registry.
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 Infrastructure Strategies Committee:
- Bobby Payne (Chair – R): (850) 717-5020
- Sam Garrison (Vice Chair – R): (850) 717-5011
- David Smith (Republican Committee Whip – R): (850) 717-5038
- Christine Hunschofsky (Democratic Ranking Member – D): (850) 717-5095
- Robert Andrade (R): (850) 717-5002
- Adam Botana (R): (850) 717-5080
- Robert Brackett (R): (850) 717-5034
- James Buchanan (R): (850) 717-5074
- Hillary Cassel (D): (850) 717-5101
- Linda Chaney (R): (850) 717-5061
- Anna Eskamani (D): (850) 717-5042
- Tom Fabricio (R): (850) 717-5110
- Michael Gottlieb (D): (850) 717-5102
- Sam Killebrew (R): (850) 717-5048
- Johanna Lopez (D): (850) 717-5043
- Fiona McFarland (R): (850) 717-5073
- James Mooney, Jr. (R): (850) 717-5120
- Angela Nixon (D): (850) 717-5013
- Susan Plasencia (R): (850) 717-5037
- Felicia Robinson (D): (850) 717-5104
- Jason Shoaf (R): (850) 717-5007
- Cyndi Stevenson (R): (850) 717-5018
- Josie Tomkow (R): (850) 717-5051
- Keith Truenow (R): (850) 717-5026
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!
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You know, I left FAC for denying my free speech on comments I made in the past and I can still see you’re still doing it. So, I am now going to let others know that you moderate everything you don’t like.
You must be a [moderated]
I greatly appreciate our moderators for keeping this site from becoming one that I would be ashamed to have the public see.
This bill doesn’t require registrants to exchange an unexpired license. As written, it applies to licenses “originally issued or reissued by the department” (lines 809-810 in latest bill text as of this writing). The burden here appears to be on the DHSMV.
If anyone sees any language in the bill requiring registrant exchange of unexpired licenses, I’d be interested to know, but I haven’t seen any.
Originally issued…
Most likely that covers your current license.
Jacob great call out
Jacob, my uneducated guess, too. (The uneducated part only applies to me, Jacob, not to you.)
But I have now heard two attorneys say that there is definite confusion over this issue and knowing that there are rogue LE’s out there (although most are not), these two attorneys are recommending that if the bill passes, everyone should play it safe and have their licenses renewed with the red letting before January 1, 2024.
My question is: What if the registrant has advanced dementia along with other medical issues and cannot physically go to the DMV? How are they to renew their license/ID?
If everyone does have to have the red lettering put on right away, how is the DMV going to handle close to 30,000 people coming in to to get a new license?
Sounds like another trap to get arrested. So if it passes and you do not have time or the money to replace license or forget, guess what, you get arrested. Another trap to keep us from getting off the registry.
They see the 20/25 year mark for getting off is closing in for some and they just cannot stand that. Just can’t wait till they send us all to leper colonies.
Good question and the issue is that you have to make an appointment at DMV and then within 48 hours report in person to the spot unit to show them you illegally branded I’d card/DL. Depending where you live that could be a huge burden. Which is why the day the governor signs the bill we need the injunction filled
Can we just call it what it is?
The Scarlet letter.
That would be Scarlet Letters, plural, sir.
I agree with a lawsuit. Until we start challenging these laws, they are going to continue to pass what they want.
I would like to see us pool our money together and higher representation for the court system. We are not winning in the court of public opinion. Let’s stop exhausting resources, and physical energy do that. Let’s use our energy, money, resources to legally fight where it matters most…IN THE COURTS. Those are the referees. That’s where you can cry “foul”. That’s where the law(s) can be examined. That’s who has the power to overturn our plight.
[moderated]