FAC Open Letter to Council of State Governments Justice Center

Council of State Governments Justice Center
444 N.  Capitol Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

To Whom It May Concern,

Our organization, Florida Action Committee represents the estimated 70 thousand persons on the Florida sex offender registry as well as the impact on hundreds of thousands of families and communities that are increasingly impacted by the registry.  We readily acknowledge that ours is a most unpopular cause, largely due to the misinformation about those on the registry, the automatic conclusion that all have committed horrendous predatory acts and will have a high rate of re offending.  The facts belie this ill-informed belief.  Multiple reliable and credible sources indicate that recidivism rates are very low for this population. In fact the Missing and Exploited Children’s source indicates that the rate is as low as 3 to 5 percent.  In addition, the term offender and predator have become interchangeably used in the press and even more importantly in our state’s legislation.
As a reminder, the Webinar on Sex Offender Reentry, presented by the Justice Center, Council of State Governments and funded by the Bureau of Justice and SMART office presented the following points:
•    The “one size fits all” label of sex offender is not working.
•    The type of crime matters.
•    Dynamic risk factors that move from risk management to risk reduction should be taken into account.

Given that the registry is for a lifetime, the numbers will only increase under the current system!
This same Webinar also provided the results of a survey completed by thousands.  The question asked “On what should legislation (pertaining to sex offender reentry) be based?” yielded the response of “What they THINK the public wants.”  When the public was asked the same question, the response was “Laws based on empirical evidence.”

In our state of Florida, we are experiencing redundant and misinformed legislation passed under the guise of protecting the public.  The millions and millions of dollars could be far better spent on programs that would provide services to assist dysfunctional families where over 95 percent of abuse occurs as well as providing a gateway for our young people to become entrapped in sex trafficking schemes.
As an organization we are requesting your support to provide informational opportunities to the public that can address the need for successful reentry rather than the plethora of laws and ordinances that are being passed without discussion of facts or consequences.
For example, the public has the right to know the actual cost of the registry.  There is a need for information to be updated as to the following:  1)maintenance of the online sex offender registry data base 2)operation of the FDLE sexual offender/predator division 3) each County’s cost of operating local SPOT units, 4)each municipality’s cost of executing address verification and compliance checks, 5) overlaps among agencies such as those involved in the US Marshall’s services, 6) cost of federal assets in enforcing the registry, and 7) the multiple variations in the residency restrictions.
It is our earnest goal to have the resources spent on prevention and education vs policies that impede successful reentry of this population.
We look forward to hearing from you on this vital matter!