Clay County: Stop the passage of an expanded residency restriction!
Today, at 4PM in Clay County, the county commission is scheduled to consider a proposed amendment to the “Sexual Offenders and Sexual Predators Ordinance”
The agenda item can be seen here: https://claycounty.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=5470&MeetingID=1352
The proposed amended ordinance can be found here: https://claycounty.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/AttachmentViewer.ashx?AttachmentID=10291&ItemID=5470
The meeting will take place at the Clay County Administration Building, 4th Floor, BCC Meeting Room, 477 Houston Street, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043 at 4:00 PM
Among other things, this new ordinance will DOUBLE the residency restriction and impose Halloween restrictions! It is based on the FALSE premise that registrants have a high rate of recidivism, that SORRs are effective and that there’s an increased risk to children from registrants on Halloween.
We implore you to show up at the meeting and speak out against the ordinance!
If you cannot show up in person, contact the county commissioners:
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What requires them to take this action? What has occurred that warrants this action? Oh yeah, it’s civil in nature and they can do it because they want to, no findings of fact or conclusions of law and no reason! This shit has to stop!!!
It’s 6:50 pm and I just read this. I hope and pray that this tyrannical action failed. What is really sad is the following:
“a) The Board of County Commissioners hereby finds and determines that convicted sexual
offenders and sexual predators present a threat to the public safety and welfare of children and are LIKELY TO REPEAT THEIR SEXUAL OFFENSES.”
Upon WHAT basis does this board come to this conclusion? I’m certain there are NO supporting crime statistics in Clay county or any other county in the United States to support such claims – quite the opposite in fact. Truth is they just pull it out of their collective asses.
These morons should be required to defend these knee-jerk assertions with verifiable, well-documented FACTS before further destroying the lives of registrants and of their families – and trashing the spirit of our Constitution in the process!
Verifiable, fact-based evidence prior to passing ANY law restricting ANYONES GOD-GIVEN Constitutional rights – THAT’S a law I suspect we can all get behind!
The commission didn’t dare repeat this assertion, after what SarahF and others here provided to them.
One commissioner asked, what will happen to my next-door neighbor, who committed an offense when he was 17 and is now 48? Another said, this is hard, I know families of victims as well as families of offenders. A third demanded the detective to tell him what the studies say. All three lost their spine at voting time, in my opinion. But this “likely to repeat” assertion is getting harder to use in a public hearing, where we have made sure in advance that they’re familiar with the facts.
Did this misguided language remain in the ordinance? I hope so. Makes it easier to challenge at a future date.
” Did this misguided language remain in the ordinance? I hope so. Makes it easier to challenge at a future date.”
Unfortunately, like all of the other county and municipal ordinances, there just aren’t enough affected people in these areas to raise the required money to challenge. It’s a shame, because if we could overturn one of these it might set a precedent for all the others.
FAC has made it clear that it is focused on statewide challenges, but perhaps there is another way to raise the funds and target a single county? Any ideas out there?
A win in one county will set a precedent. California learned this. It’s just a matter of deciding, with our attorneys’ help, which county ordinance(s) represent the best target(s). Followed by fundraising for the best of those targets.
Just replying to myself to set the record straight.
FAC does NOT limit itself only to statewide challenges. I was informed (reminded actually) this morning by the FAC legal committee: “FAC has been involved in a challenge to a municipal SORR for 5 years. (Does v. Miami-Dade, Southern District of Florida Case No. 14-23933) which is currently on appeal in the 11th Circuit (Case No. 19-10254).” My apologies to FAC and to the membership for my error and for my atrocious memory. It’s hell getting old.
Good point, Jacob. I do not remember anyone stating that registrants are likely to reoffend, but the following statements remained in the ordinance:
Page 1: Whereas, due to the substantial risk to children that recidivism poses….
Page 2: Sec. 15-42. — Findings and Intent.
(a) The Board of County Commissioners hereby finds and determines that convicted sexual offenders and sexual predators present a threat to the public safety and welfare of children and are likely to repeat their sexual offenses.
Remember that it was stated that the county’s legal department wrote up this ordinance. There was some evidence last night that some people on our county’s payroll have a limited knowledge of certain facts and the research on this particular topic. Perhaps this is all new to them and they will soon master this subject.
The recidivism language in the preamble looks to me like a copy-and-paste from other counties’ ordinances.
Yes, the county attorney said that her department used the ordinances from 3 surrounding counties: Duval, Nassau, and I cannot remember the third one. She made it sound as though there was nothing original in the ordinance — all copied from other counties.
I will be there, but my guess is that I will be alone. That is okay, though. I am scared to death to speak in front of our county commissioners, but I might try or I might just sit silently.
Thank you FAC for what you are trying to do.
Please SOMEONE (or SOMEONES) arrange to meet Sarah at the meeting. We need people to show up and oppose.
On my way there.
i read everything they are trying to change. This is insane. This is almost the most restrictive list ive seen. This actually might be it. Sara i know your scared but at this point can you see the ripple effect of all these enactments going county to county state to state? reading this just seems surreal. IS there currently a problem with ex offenders preying on kids or re offending? Am i missing something here? What is the point of this if nothing is going on?
Thank you, Blake. Nothing has happened to prompt our commissioners to pass this ordinance other than Action4News calling one of our commissioners and asking him what he (the commissioner) planned on doing about sex offenders.
That was a shocking admission by the commissioner. Local TV news outlets remain a reckless force. ActionNews needs to hear from us more.
@SarahF
Speak to them the same way you speak on here. I know it’s not the same, but you shouldn’t be afraid because you know your information and about the topic (much more than they do) . Worst would be to speak about something you have no idea about. That isn’t the case here. Once you break ice, it gets a lot easier. It doesn’t matter how it comes out ( scripted ). JUST BE YOU and let them have it. Educate them!
Sarah, my thoughts are with you. I’m not from anywhere near Florida, but I want you to know you are an inspiration to those of us with loved ones harmed by this crazy scheme. I say a little prayer for you all the time. Just wanted you to know. Fingers crossed for you
Thank you so much for those prayers.
It would be nice if you ask us to contact someone to include a factual paragraph or two that bolster this case that we can cut and paste…AND include contact info for FAC…
I recently was involved with a “cut and paste” with Florida Cares to the Florida Department of Corrections. It accomplished absolutely nothing. The reply from Mr. Finch, who heads up our department of corrections, basically said that all the emails were “carbon copies” of each other; therefore he ignored our requests.
Hi David.
Just my thoughts:
You make an excellent point.
Everybody who does this is a volunteer (just like you and me). All of us must take time out of our day (even from our jobs).
I’ll tell you what I did. I started a folder on my computer, and every time I see a really good article from a highly visible (and reputable) news source (here or on Narsol or elsewhere), I copy and paste it into a Microsoft Word document. Then I save it with the article’s name and source.
Now, when I see an appeal to reach out, I send a short, polite and professional email to many people in that area. I look up the “Contact Us” links on newspaper and TV web pages. Then I attach an article or 2 and let that do the talking.
They are much less apt to argue with ABC News or HuffPost than they are to argue with me. (Of course I NEVER represent myself as a member of FAC unless I am specifically asked to do so by an FAC board member.)
Everybody is a volunteer and so crazy busy, you know? We all must stop and organize our own files and take the initiative, right?
There are also excellent pieces of literature for distribution here on FAC and also on NARSOL. You can use those as well. Download them and save them. (I printed some on Halloween and put them in supermarket carts.)
The key is to just go ahead and respectfully contact people. I challenge you right now to email all five of those commissioners and attach a piece of literature from FAC or NARSOL.
Thanks, my friend!!
TOGETHER we can make a difference!! UNITED WE STAND!!!
Also Sarah: Yes, I know you will be nervous, but you have the backing of the TRUTH. The TRUTH always sounds out loud and clear. I personally thank you for going tonight. Just read them a half dozen points of TRUTH and then emphasize that child molestation can only be stopped by using science and reason – not superstition and fear.
You see Sunday’s paper lakeland ledger about registry’s and how the State charged 1 human trafficking victim with Marijauna and one with prostitution. About keeping everyone fat around the court. Also they ran another sting on SOs targeting them for harmless shit.
Is someone working on contacting the local TV stations in Jacksonville? Also, I believe the Saint Augustine metro area needs to be reached.
I gotta get back to my day job now.
Please EVERYBODY HELP!!
Thank you, JJJJ.
If you are from that county or area, and you are able to travel, please show up with (practiced) talking points in hand!!
SHOW UP!!!!
Yes, you must plan and practice ahead of time. If people just talk off the “top of their head”, people tend to not pay attention to what is being said. By the way, any talk given does not have to be long — short can be just as good.
I agree. Just write down what you want to say. You’ll say what you wanted to AND you don’t even have to be nervous then. You are just reading something.
I know from reading things you have written that you can write something very, very good. You could take a child to read it and it would sound great!
OK. I contacted about 15 people in 6 newspapers in the Jacksonville area. I also emailed all 5 Clay County commissioners.
I attached the
1.) ATSA Halloween Statement,
2.) The article from Huff Post entitled “Sex Offender Registries Don’t Keep Kids Safe, But Politicians Keep Expanding Them Anyway”, and
3.) The David Feige Article in Jurisprudence titled “Sex offender bans are based on bad science.”
I took a non-confrontational and professional tone.
Hopefully we will reach some heads and hearts.
EXCELLENT!!! This is the response we need!