CALL TO ACTION: Oppose HB 987: Public Lodging Establishments
On April 10th, The Florida House of Representatives amended House Bill 987: Public Lodging Establishments, to require Persons required to register as sex offenders report to the Sheriff’s office where they will be staying, 48 hours before an intended stay at a Public Lodging Establishment, regardless of how long they will stay at the location!
In addition, operators of a Public Lodging Establishment who have a Person required to register as a sex offender staying at or within 1000 feet of their establishment, must notify all guests staying there.
Not only will this be impossible to comply with (you will need to report to the local Sheriff 48 hours before even arriving!), but burdens the travel rights of persons who have served their time and without any individualized assessment of their risk to the community.
It is IMPORTANT that you contact your legislator to tell them to OPPOSE this bill! NOW!
A copy of the Amendment can be found here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/987/Amendment/348655/PDF
A copy of the Bill can be found here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/987/BillText/c2/PDF
You can find House Committees and Representatives serving here: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committees.aspx
You can find all Representatives here: Florida House of Representatives Complete List
You can find all Senators here: Florida Senate Complete List
You can find your specific State and US Representatives here: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
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Damn…..I thought some version of this was killed last year? I thought this was too intrusive for even the state of Florida. Whoever said this will be nearly impossible to enforce wasn’t joking. Wasn’t this similar to Lauren Book’s proposed legislation that was pulled due to a conflict it would have caused with her drunken father’s donors? They really, really, really want to do a number on the registered citizens of your state…..I came down for spring break this year but stayed for less then 3 days with no problems but this will kill any registered visitor/tourist from ever visiting Florida…WOW! SMH
People required to register, without being able to stay at a hotel will end up shacking up with intoxicated women they meet at the local tavern. Some of these women will be single moms. The other people not able to get hotel rooms will end up sleeping in their vehicles, possible the RV they rent. I would think that it would be best to allow those required to register to actually register in their own room at a hotel. Perhaps the lawmakers know best that people will feel safer knowing sex offenders are sleeping in the van parked outside their home or that the sex offender was the designated driver who drove their daughter home from the bar and is now sleeping in the next room with your grandchildren.
OK I spoke with Samantha at the Florida restaurant and lodging association And she said this bill is not keeping her awake at night because she said this language although alarming is not likely to survive because it would be too difficult to implement. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop calling but it does alleviate a small bit of concern.
Good call Jim. Very good thinking!!!
So, If we decide to stay within 1000 feet of a hotel and notify law enforcement 48 hours prior, the hotel is required to notify all guests? And then our “plans” change at the last minute so we cancel but the hotel has already suffered the stigma?
Just saying… incidents like this would rile the hotels up against the law. I have already contacted Wyndham, Marriott, Hilton, and Holiday Inn (IHG). Hopefully they will apply pressure to prevent passing this craziness. Registrants would be denied ALL lodging. O have a child shipt case coming up in Indian River county which is 5 hours away. If this were law, I’d be good to sleep in my car to make it to my hearing.
SCOTUS heard ruled on a case that required hotels to keep certain specified information about their customers, including the name and address, vehicle information, dates of the stay, room number, and how the customer paid the bill, among other information and if a police officer requested the data, the hotel had to make it available or face criminal penalties. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-1175_k537.pdf
An Arizona hotel chain that reported to federal immigration of suspected illegals staying on their property. The hotel had to pay $8.9M in settlements for wrongfully providing law enforcement with hotel data without a warrant. Additionally, the court ruled that “written consent” must be a an option by the guest to protect privacy.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/04/575567251/motel-6-gave-guest-information-to-immigration-agents-lawsuit-says
In the state of Washington, the same hotel chain settled by paying a $12M fine for sharing hotel data with law enforcement without a warrant.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/motel-pay-12m-settle-lawsuit-sharing-guest-info/story?id=62239566
If Florida passes this bill into law, it will surely meet the fate of the SCOTUS ruling used in these two cases to settle. Anyhow, some poor may suffer at the hands of an unnecessary and intrusive law. But he/she may be beyond rich once the case is quickly identified as a violation of constitutional rights?
The bottom line is, don’t ever support or visit Florida.
A Florida Democrat is a Republican everywhere else. To think that Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil discussing criminal justice reform on her social media page. What does she know about criminal justice reform? I’m just surprised it wasn’t an amendment by a certain blonde senator we all know and dislike (although she probably had a hand in it somewhere).