FAC Petitions Governor Scott to "Clean Up the Registry"

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE FLORIDA ACTION COMMITTEE (FAC)

For Immediate Release

September 30, 2016

Contact: Gail Colletta

561-305-4959

 

LAKE MONROE, FLORIDA – September 30, 2016

The Florida Action Committee (FAC) sent a petition to Florida Governor Rick Scott today, asking him to clean up the registry.

The Florida’s Sex Offender Registry contains over sixty-nine thousand names! Most of the names on the list are not even living in Florida communities! Intended to be a tool (and not punishment) for those in the community to be aware of the ‘ones to watch out for’ among them, how can it be effective when it’s diluted with more images and listings of people who are not there to watch out for than are?

That is just one of the points FAC makes to our legislature each session.

Public perception is that the list is comprised of the worst of the worst. Parents are scared when they discover all the “red dots” in their neighborhood.

The fact, however, is that the registry is bloated with people who don’t belong there, such as juveniles, first-time non-contact offenders, people whose offenses were decades ago and have not offended since and yes, people who are not even there!

To start with; our state needs to clean up the registry and the first step is to remove those who are not in the community.

We’ve come to expect that the legislature won’t look at facts and consider empirical evidence when there are huge federal financial incentives (like this one) not to. But residents of Florida, if they are actually concerned about public safety, should know the truth!

You can view a copy of the petition (signatures and signature pages redacted) by clicking here.