CALL TO ACTION SB 932 Prohibits Parental Timesharing with their minor child
Senate Bill 932 is on the Agenda to go before the Rules Committee tomorrow 04/06/21 at 9:30 am.
We are calling on all members to contact the members of the Senate Rules Committee by calling and emailing them via the information below, and asking them to OPPOSE SB 932. Please remember to be polite and professional. Remember, they were not the one introducing this bill, they are considering it, so be mindful of that when communicating with them.
SB 932 prohibits a court from granting time-sharing with a minor child to a parent registered as a sexual offender or sexual predator. It literally says timesharing MAY NOT be given to a registrant parent unless a judge makes written finding that the parent poses no significant risk of harm to the child and that time-sharing is in the child’s best interest.
Anybody who has been through the family court system knows that never happens. In Florida we have elected judges who will not risk re-election by making such a written finding. Judges are also not qualified practitioners and therefore should not be making risk assessments, especially when it comes to the right to the fundamental right to raise one’s children. (Art. I., s. 23 of the Florida Constitution provides that parents have a fundamental liberty interest in determining the care and upbringing of their children.)
Plus, its unreasonable for someone on the registry who is likely already struggling financially because of unemployment or underemployment caused by the stigma, to now be forced to hire an attorney to fight for timesharing that is otherwise statutorily guaranteed to all other parents.
With more than 50% of marriages ending in divorce, there will be hundreds of thousands of children who will lose a wonderful parent because of this sick bill. We NEED to fight this one!
Please email or call the Senators on the Rules Committee TONIGHT and ask them to OPPOSE Senate Bill 932!
Senate Rules Committee:
| CHAIR: Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R) | (850) 487-5028 | [email protected] |
| VICE CHAIR: Senator Ileana Garcia (R) | (850) 487-5037 | [email protected] |
| Senator Ben Albritton (R) | (850) 487-5026 | [email protected] |
| Senator Dennis Baxley (R) | (850) 487-5012 | [email protected] |
| Senator Aaron Bean (R) | (850) 487-5004 | [email protected] |
| Senator Lauren Book (D) | (850) 487-5032 | [email protected] |
| Senator Randolph Bracy (D) | (850) 487-5011 | [email protected] |
| Senator Jeff Brandes (R) | (850) 487-5024 | [email protected] |
| Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. (R) | (850) 487-5036 | [email protected] |
| Senator Gary M. Farmer, Jr. (D) | (850) 487-5034 | [email protected] |
| Senator Audrey Gibson (D) | (850) 487-5006 | [email protected] |
| Senator Joe Gruters (R) | (850) 487-5023 | [email protected] |
| Senator Travis Hutson (R) | (850) 487-5007 | [email protected] |
| Senator Debbie Mayfield (R) | (850) 487-5017 | [email protected] |
| Senator Bobby Powell (D) | (850) 487-5030 | [email protected] |
| Senator Kelli Stargel (R) | (850) 487-5022 | [email protected] |
| Senator Perry E. Thurston, Jr. (D) | (850) 487-5033 | [email protected] |
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Sent a message to all on the list except Lauren Book….that would just be a waste of time……..have doubts it will help but you never know if you do not try. Will be hoping.
I actually hope this bill passes for the simple fact this will put it directly in the pipe line for SCOTUS to rule if the registry is punishment or not. Sometimes overreaction on the governments part is what it takes.
Brian I said the same thing and I got jumped on about it. Saying in the years it takes to get to the supreme court, your kids would be grown by then.
What is that old saying, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom? I do know, when you get knocked down, like a boxer, you get back up.
“You will only hit rock bottom when you stop digging.”
It wasn’t long ago that, in order for a legal rule to be absolutely and always enforced by courts, the term SHALL had to be used in the legislation. I wonder if MAY NOT is really as strong of a directive as SHALL NOT nowadays. Also, I think the name of the idiot sponsor, Tom Wright, is a misnomer.
I sent this reply to all the emails except Ms. Book:
I am writing you with deep concern over SB 932. I was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography in 2009. Since then I have completed Probation and had no further problems. While I was incarcerated my wife and I divorced. She fell into a bad group of people and developed a dependency on prescription medications. The judge allowed us to have 50/50 shared custody. I was the more stable parent both with employment and mental status. She ended up overdosing a few years ago. If this law would have been in place, he would have been placed in state custody or given to elderly grandparents not equipped to care for him. Judges are very reluctant to call any sexual offender “no risk”, and furthermore, are not qualified therapists to make such a determination. Florida is a state where all sex offenses are lumped together and there is no system for risk assessment based on individual situations. While in theory, I agree that children must be protected- I would be devastated if anything were to happen to my son. In this proposal, it puts an undue hardship on all parents that have this label- without a standard measure of risk.
Please do not support this bill as it is proposed.
Hate to say it, but they probably stopped reading after the second sentence. After reading that sentence these politicians no longer see you as a human being with hopes, dreams, fears, and complexity, but an effigy to be burned to appease their braindead cow-eyed fear driven electorate. That’s why I’m waiting till the point where I can help bring them down and exact on them precisely I think they deserve, as they’ve been doing for decades. Whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword was not rso. Throw your weight behind anything that will destroy the system, because you’ll find no relief in it.
Anyone know whether they at least softened the language as Sen. Brandes suggested?
I went through this process back in 2014 and actually got my full parental rights restored while still on probation. I represented myself and came prepared for the worst to happen but actually won my case. I presented facts based on the law requirements (static-99 assessment which I presented not 1 but 2 from entirely different therapists / safety plan / supervisors / etc.). Even had my ex-wife whose daughter from another marriage was involved in my case testify on my behalf. I not only got the win but even got overnight approval. So please keep hope – but do follow the rules specifically. A simple mistake could cost you so much. You fail when you give up. I lost 4 times before firing my attorney and then represented myself. Nobody will care as much as you will – remember that!
Proactive
Remember this one also
“When you feel like quitting, remember why you started”
we often fight for our families harder than we would fight for ourselves