Sex offender registries are publicly accessible, listing names, photos, and addresses. While sold as tools for public safety, they also function as ready-made directories for individuals seeking vulnerable targets. Women on the registry — already stigmatized, isolated, and often lacking support — are especially exposed. There are no safeguards, no warnings, and no meaningful protections built into a system that puts their personal information on display.

If a registry allows one offender to locate and target another, particularly women, then it is failing in its most basic duty: to prevent harm. Public safety cannot mean sacrificing the safety of a politically unpopular group. Until lawmakers confront the reality that registries can be weaponized, women on these lists will remain not just monitored, but endangered.

The post Female registrants on sex offender registry are hunted appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Property owners face fines and a six-month jail sentence for violations.

About two dozen members of the public have spoken on the new law since it was first presented to the board last month — with those opposed to the ordinance pleading for at least more time to find new homes for some of the residents.

The board passed the law anyway.

SOURCE

The post CA: Fresno passes ordinance evicting registered sex offenders from group housing appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

The property has previously been targeted. In May, police were called after power cables were cut and a window and patio door were damaged. Later that month, another window was smashed.

This is a chilling reminder of the very real and very predictable consequences of publicly disclosing people’s home addresses. Not only to the registrants but to their families and neighbors. In this case, only a favorable wind direction prevented nearby homes from catching fire.

When governments choose to publish addresses, they are not merely “informing the public” — they are marking people and their families for harassment, intimidation, property destruction, and potentially deadly violence. These attacks are the foreseeable outcome of policies that dehumanize and single out a disfavored group and invite the public to act on fear, anger, and stigma. Time and again, we see the same pattern: registries lead to threats, assaults, arson, forced displacement, homelessness, and in some cases, murder. The targets are not only the person on the registry, but also their spouses, children, neighbors, and first responders who are put at risk when fires are set or mobs gather. No community is safer because a car is burned, a window is smashed, or a family is terrorized in their own home.

Public registries do not prevent crime. What they do is impose a lifetime of apprehension and fear — never knowing when someone will show up, when a window will be broken, when a job will be lost, or when violence will erupt. That constant state of fear is itself a form of punishment, imposed not by a court, but by policy.

FAC has long warned that public registration laws create conditions ripe for vigilantism. People who have completed their sentences should not be subjected to perpetual public shaming and danger. Their families and neighbors should not live in fear.

SOURCE

The post UK: Car torched outside registrant’s home appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Clements Remand Brief

The post Clements’ brief filed today appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

lageson-sudduth-2025-digital-punishment-lateral-surveillance-the-sex-offense-registry

The post Study: Digital punishment, lateral surveillance & the sex offense registry appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, “In short, we agree with the district court that the sign mandate compels speech and, thus, is unconstitutional unless it can survive strict scrutiny… there was no convincing evidence presented that [the signs] add anything to advance the goal of protecting children… there is insufficient evidence to support the State’s assertion that the sign mandate is the least restrictive means of achieving its goals [of protecting children]… Accordingly, the sign mandate burdens more speech than necessary and fails strict scrutiny”.

You can read the opinion here: 8th Circuit Halloween Sign Order

The post Huge win in 8th Circuit Halloween Sign Case appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

But here’s where the official narrative raises questions: deputies reportedly pulled over at the Silver Springs Substation to “adjust his restraints,” only to find the man unresponsive. They immediately began CPR, and fire personnel later continued life-saving efforts, but he was ultimately pronounced dead. If a person is not complaining, struggling, or acting distressed, why would officers feel the need to stop just to check his restraints? In most jurisdictions, once someone is secured for transport, officers drive directly to the detention facility unless there is an objective reason to stop—such as medical distress. The brief news account offers no explanation for why a restraint adjustment was considered necessary.

It also matters that the arrest was for failure to register, a “technical registry violation” that does not, in itself, involve a new sexual offense or harm to a victim. Police say the Carson City Sheriff’s Office and Nevada State Police will conduct a formal investigation under the Regional Critical Incident Investigation Protocol, but we at FAC are highly skeptical that will take place and of the circumstances.

SOURCE

The post Registered person dies on the way to jail after being arrested for an FTR appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Net Nanny operations, as described by the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, are Internet sting operations designed to catch adults attempting to solicit minors online. Between 2015 and 2023, these operations resulted in 311 arrests.

Supporters of the bill including prime sponsor Sen. Lisa Wellman and several advocacy groups are expected to argue that the current system imposes excessive penalties on first-time offenders, especially when no real children are involved.

NOTE: The lowest tier under Federal Law (SORNA) is still 15 years and if one of these people moved to Florida, they would be required to register for life.

SOURCE

The post WA: Bill proposes changes to sex offender registration for Net Nanny cases appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

One registrant tried to report in Polk county, but arrived at the office to find a sign on the door letting them know the office was closed on December 24, 25, and 26. With their registration office being closed on Saturday and Sunday, that leaves a period of 132 hours where it’s impossible to report IN PERSON.

The law does not specify business hours, the law does not exclude hours where the registration office is closed, there’s no exception from criminal liability where someone shows up to register and there’s a “Closed” sign on the door.

So, to avoid a 3rd Degree Felony and potential 5 years in prison (but a mandatory minimum 6 months on an ankle monitor), what do you do?

Unfortunately, there’s no good answer. You can try calling (or better yet, emailing – so there’s a record) the FDLE (info below) and hope they give you an answer that’s better than “we can’t give you legal advice, you need to call an attorney”. Truth is, attorneys don’t know what to do either, since the law is written without exception and nobody has filed a lawsuit compelling their county registration office to remain open.

You can also try calling your county registration office when they are open and asking them what to do in a situation where you have a 48 hour window to report something but your sheriff’s office is closed. Contact info for every county can be found here.

Please share any information you get (along with who you spoke with) in the comments, so that someone else in your county will know what you’ve been told and multiple people don’t call the same office with the same question. Also remember that any information posted here is not legal advice and is not a legal authority.

sexpred@fdle.state.fl.us
Toll-free: 1-888-357-7332 (M-F 8:00am – 5:00pm, Eastern)
Local:1-850-410-8572

The post Impossible to Comply. What should you do in the event it’s impossible to comply? appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Following the St. Tammany Parish Council’s April 2024 adoption of sweeping regulations of housing for registered sex offenders, landlords Abraham and Lorraine Williams sued the parish, arguing the requirements violated state law and the U.S. Constitution.
Impastato said in an interview he could not provide all the details of the settlement, but he said that the Williamses had committed to getting out of the business of providing housing to registered sex offenders.

SOURCE

The post Judge dismisses lawsuit against St. Tammany Parish over sex offender housing ordinance appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).