FAC has sent the following letter to candidates for Florida’s Governor, in order to assess their position on restoration of civil rights, reform of sex offender laws and other issues of interest to our members.
The same letter has been sent to the seven leading candidates. We will share their responses as they come in.
Good letter covering many of our main concerns. The only thing I would have added, which I forgot to mention on the other post, would be to overhaul the clemency process by taking the governor and states attorney off the board. The board should have the same make-up as you called for in a “sex offender task force.”
Well written letter ,though I don’t live in Florida I sincerely hope they accomplished there intended results. If they are not answered I hope the letters could be published in local newspapers even if the space has to be purchased.
I am a RSO from New York living in Florida. The Sheriffs office has stated that I am governed by the New York state law. Is New York State a tiered state? Would you post a link showing the tiered states?
You might want to double check the info they gave you. I think it’s incorrect.
My offense was in Virginia but I now have my home in Florida. The instructions that I have been given is that Florida, as the monitoring agency acting in the stead of Virginia, sets my probation conditions but only Virginia can release me from probation. Earlier this year I, and my Florida lawyer, got into a “peeing” contest with Florida probation over my request to travel out of state for a high school reunion, a professional symposium, and my Naval Academy reunion. I put my request to travel in to the probation office here in Florida and was told only Virginia could approve such travel. When I went to the probation office in Virginia Beach they said Florida had to approve it. Thus a “Catch 22″. Two weeks before the high school reunion there was still no resolution. My lawyer got on the phone to Tallahassee and the next day all three trips were approved. It is sort of like ‘everybody is in charge and no body is in charge”. When I was in the Navy it was an officer who had to make decisions on situations that were not fully addressed in the instructions and regulations…it’s impossible to write a document that will cover all situations, therefore, officers are there to fill in the gaps…and they cannot be afraid to do so. I once had a department head who told all his division officers that it was their jobs to bring him solutions and not problems. It seems that many probation officers are afraid to do that…maybe “job security”? There is the ‘letter of the law’ and the ‘intent of the law’, and they must know when it is time to exercise one or the other…and not be afraid to do so.
@Wdorin
If you are on Probation with NY living in FL via an Interstate Compact than that information is correct if it states as such in your Probation Orders. If you are an RSO living in FL not on Probation you are now governed by FL rules only.
Either way you will ALSO have to abide by FL rules.
correct, he will have to abide by FL AND whatever his probation conditions are.
Thank you FAC. Letter is written nicely! Let’s hope we hear from the Candidates.
That’s a fine letter!
When i rec’d a request from the Gillum people to vote for the amend regarding restoring voting rights to felons..i told them i would except there are exclusions and she told me that only sex offenders and murders are excluded…i asked why they said it was easier to get the amend passed if they left the sex offenders and murders off and introduced them at a later date. I told them that it was highly unlikely that would happen. All or nothing..voting rights restored for all.
Thank you Miss Gail for leading this fight and sending this wonderful well thought out letter to the candidates.
Well done FAC. The information is spot on perfect. Hopefully there is a candidate that would have the courage to consider and tackle these important issues.
Love the letter. Very well written. Thank you FAC.
Wow! Incredible letter. Way to go! Thank you.
Looking forward to the responses…if any of the candidates have the fortitude to make any.
And if they don’t reply, we’ll be sure to indicate so as well. They don’t necessarily have to agree with everything, but a Governor should at least listen to their constituents!
There are 70,000 people on the Florida registry. Most have parents, children, spouses, siblings, neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. Politicians need to keep in mind that they are not discounting a group of 70,000 disfavored people, but they are ignoring the hundreds of thousands of people who know, love and support them.
“Bravo Zulu” FAC!
Maybe you can get that reporter from Miami to back your letter and maybe even help present it to the candidates.. I’m sure he would love some more ammo.. 😀
Please make sure to post the letters as you receive them. I have 10 neighbors that would love to see me off the registry. Not to mention more people I’m friends with at my church. I would love to educate them on these candidates. Which are all registered to Vote! I may not be able to Vote but I have friends that can. Never give up hope!
I know your feelings on such continued restrictions with what seems no relief in sight. My friends and family cannot understand why I have not been released from probation. I have always been a positive contributor to the communities I’ve lived in and, with the exception of an out-of-character time in my life after my wife’s death, I’ve been a dedicated husband and father. I’ve even reconciled with my sex offense victim and we get along fine…it took understanding on both of our parts. I am active in church and even write a weekly info-gram on the importance of church and its impact on society. I wake up every day looking forward to the opportunities of the day knowing that God is with me and that things will work out in His time. I could complain but I have been too blessed to do that, so I choose to share my blessings.
Well Done.
The letter is well stated, it seems to cover most of the questions that I would have included. Let’s hope that when elected we have a governor that is willing to actually do what is best for the state as a whole and not just a few. We also can not continue to base our laws on emotions instead of facts.