FAC Weekly Update 2026-09-02-The Word of the Week is “Retaliation”
Weekly update for September 2, 2026. This is recording number 389.
Dear Members and Advocates,
There are weeks when you just have to wonder whether the people running the registry understand how their own actions help make our case for us.
Within a couple of weeks after being named as a defendant, Flagler County conducted what it called a “first of its kind” enforcement operation targeting people on the registry. Coincidence? We aren’t going to tell you what to think. But we will tell you that their own local news, FlaglerLive, noticed the timing, too. In an article headlined “On Heels of Lawsuit Challenging Registrations, Flagler Sheriff Arrests 40 Sex Offenders In Compliance Sweep,” FlaglerLive specifically connected the operation to FAC’s lawsuit and observed that the timing “may not have been as coincidental as it seems.”
It seems that after being sued, Flagler County reviewed its entire population of registrants – 139 people – and arrested 40 of them (representing approximately 30% of the entire registered population in the county). The Sheriff’s Office announced 168 felony registration violation charges. This wasn’t an operation that uncovered people committing new sex crimes. According to the reporting, none of those arrested was accused of committing a new sex offense. The arrests were about alleged failures to comply with the extraordinarily complicated registration requirements – things like failing to report an internet identifier or update vehicle information.
And then came the press conference. Sheriff Rick Staly appeared with members of his department, representatives from FDLE, and Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark. And, graciously making the trip from Tallahassee, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass (the main Defendant in the lawsuit) showed up in his cowboy hat. Commissioner Glass was asked about FAC’s lawsuit. His response was that he could not comment on ongoing litigation. Fair enough. But perhaps the operation and Commissioner Glass’ presence at the press conference itself was a form of commentary. Sending a message to the registrant community that if we’re going to sue them, this is what they have the power to do to us. Message received… and shared with our lawyers.
And then, at the end of the press conference, Sheriff Staly delivered what may be one of the most useful statements in this case. His final message to registrants; “move out of Flagler County. I don’t care where you go.” (fast forward to 43 minutes into the press conference). His message to people on the registry in Flagler County was, in substance, to leave Flagler County. That’s quite a message from a public official to a class of people who have supposedly completed their sentences and are supposedly being subjected to a mere “civil” regulatory scheme. Thank you, Sheriff. Seriously. That statement may be one of the best exhibits we could ask for.
There were some other “curious” developments last week. FAC was invited to appear as a guest on NPR’s Friday Roundup program. We were scheduled to discuss our lawsuit and what it means – not just for people on the registry, but for constitutional rights and the limits of government power. A couple of days before the program, we were told that we had been bumped. That’s television and radio. Things change. Stories develop. We understand that. Still, we were curious, so we tuned in to see who took our slot and were surprised (ok, totally not surprised) to learn that the replacement guest was Lauren Book. We had a similar experience with another South Florida publication. An eager journalist scheduled an interview with FAC last week. On the day of the interview, however, the journalist got “sick” and the interview was canceled. We haven’t heard back. We hope they’re feeling better.
We won’t speculate about why these programming decisions were made. We weren’t in the room, and we may never know what happened behind the scenes. But it does remind us that there’s a very powerful opposition pushing their own self-serving narrative surrounding sex-offender laws in Florida, and they will use their wealth and power to try to silence our voice in the conversation. Of course, none of this changes what we are doing. FAC’s federal lawsuit is moving forward. We did not file this case because we expected government officials to applaud us. We filed it because constitutional rights are not supposed to depend upon whether the government likes the people exercising them. And that is ultimately what this fight is about.
The good news is that the efforts to obstruct and silence our voices in the media won’t work in the courtroom. And the events in Flagler County may have been intended to demonstrate the County’s everlasting and unyielding power over us, but instead, it demonstrated exactly why the registry needs to be challenged.
Stay strong and let’s keep fighting,
The Florida Action Committee
PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO THIS LAWSUIT. YOU CAN DONATE BY CLICKING HERE AND SCROLLING DOWN TO ‘GENERAL LEGAL FUND’. 100% OF DONATIONS TO THIS FUND WILL BE APPLIED TO THIS LAWSUIT.
FOR A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION, EMAIL [email protected] OR LEAVE A MESSAGE 833-273-7325 OPTION 1 AND A REPRESENATIVE WILL CONTACT YOU REGARDING FINANCIAL DONATIONS OR LEGACY GIFTS.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
GM all seems this is just that. Whatever happened to FDLE’s claim it allow PFR’s to fix their mistakes and avoid arrest? I have a question is using AI reportable. My workplace is pushing the use of Ai a lot and I am curious if that would be something I have to report.
Registration of AI use is not mentioned in the statute.
Yes I know but AI back then was not really a thing so i guess to narrow my question If you use AI to chat with only AI ie like a Sim City where there are no other real users does that constitute something you need to report. I do not have any social media.
But is chatting with an Ai bot protected and not reportable.
If you are referring to use of an AI chatbot, or to apps that have no other users with whom to communicate, then those are not covered by the statute, either.
Thank you my workplace is pushing us to use AI to developed sales skills, interactions etc. and created a whole AI world so to speak We all have access to it, but the AI “people” are strictly AI no user to user. I have been kicking against because I am not a fan of AI. We lose our critical thinking ability and 2. I was unsure If I had to report it.
I’m just so sad about all this mistreatment my son was an A&P mechanic when charged. It’s been 8 months since he finished his sentence and he’s now on probation. He’s applied to 3 A&P jobs. Crickets. Not sure what his future as far as making a decent wage will be. Or his future housing situation. I have 4 years ti retirement. I’m very worried.
I’ve been on the registry since its inception in 1997. It took me about a decade to realize that consistent, dignified income would require self-employment. While it hasn’t been easy, I’ve managed to make it work all these years later. Helping people solve problems is the core of my business, and I do so with a positive attitude and affordable pricing, which keeps me in steady demand. Has the registry interfered at times? Yes, it has. But at the end of the day, I have more work than I can handle. True power exists where it always has: in person-to-person client relationships.
Good luck im am A&P with the federal classifications its hard find anything
I would be pleased to assist with your son’s resume. The skills acquired in aircraft maintenance are often transferable to other industries, particularly those involving fleet maintenance or similar technical roles. While these positions may involve hands-on work, they often offer competitive compensation. The key is to identify his existing proficiencies and reframe them to align with the requirements of various sectors. Additionally, his experience with FAR manuals, which represent legal doctrine, suggests a strong aptitude for administrative tasks.
This may sounds backward, but perhaps he should use the registry to see where people on the list near him are working, and then research the business to see if there is any relevance to the type of work your son does. Perhaps those employers may be more open than others.
The “Dual Threat” designation, associated with registry and homeland security protocols, significantly impacts an individual’s professional standing. Specifically, within airport environments, this designation, due to their federal jurisdiction, leads to the revocation of necessary security clearances, thereby precluding employment in such locations. This has effectively curtailed my career prospects in that field.
Furthermore, this designation has, in fact, impacted two distinct career paths and my entrepreneurial endeavors. In 2020, I was advised that as an automotive shop owner on the registry, I would be required to register every vehicle entering my premises as being in my possession. Despite a lack of clarity regarding the legal basis for this requirement among some officials, the potential implications were sufficiently concerning to prompt me to divest from that business in 2022. The perceived risks associated with being a shop owner and the potential for increased scrutiny or reporting were significant deterrents, a consequence often overlooked.
Ryan, who advised you of this? That is not the law at all!
Let me clarify: as a military retiree who is also on the registry, I have personally been told during background checks for airport-related jobs that I was considered a “dual threat.” I am not saying that every registrant receives this classification.
TSA screens airport workers through two separate tracks: terrorism-watchlist screening and criminal-background screening. For jobs involving unescorted access to secure airport areas, federal regulations list rape and aggravated sexual abuse among the disqualifying offenses, along with terrorism-related crimes, treason, espionage, murder, and other serious offenses. The federal lookback period is generally ten years under 49 C.F.R. § 1542.209. Watchlist inclusion is different and requires information connecting a person to terrorism or related activity.
Because airport employees have access to aircraft and restricted areas, they are checked repeatedly. In my experience, once all these screenings and restrictions are combined, getting an airport job can be nearly impossible for an affected registrant—even at a small municipal or regional airport.
Understood, I was referring more to, “I was advised that as an automotive shop owner on the registry, I would be required to register every vehicle entering my premises.” That is not true at all and we might want to know who is conveying this.
In 2020/2022, representatives from the registration office, accompanied by officers from Pasco County, visited my business location. They presented excerpts from a statute, suggesting that my control over vehicles and keys might constitute a registration violation. While I am familiar with the relevant statute, the presence of two Hernando County deputy vehicles and two Pasco County vehicles at my business created an undue level of scrutiny. No charges but how that plays out
Remember, my charge involved no identified victim. It came from a Net Nanny sting, and with the money I had at the time, the lowest charge I could realistically get was unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Under a federal or most other states’ tier systems, I would be considered Tier 1—the lowest level. In Colorado, they were not particularly concerned with me; the clerk and recorder’s office essentially handled it as routine paperwork.
Florida is very different. I am treated much like a predator, even though I am not classified that way. I have to report yes twice a year, but law enforcement comes to my front door four times a year as well. Having to interact with law enforcement has become second nature to me.
Ryan
I am the opposite, I have to register 4 times a year but most of the time only get one house visit a year. Last year I got zero checks at home. But I also live in a county that has so many offenders that the line to get into to register could take more than an hour.
* now that I typed that I will end up getting a home check every month now
Ryan, that is exactly why the conduct of the Hernando and Pasco Sheriff’s Offices is so troubling. The statute does not give local law enforcement free rein to invent additional registration obligations based on what an individual officer thinks might be useful. Where the Legislature chose to impose a vehicle-related reporting requirement tied specifically to vehicles at a registrant’s residence, law enforcement cannot simply rewrite “residence” to include a person’s employer, workplace, or business parking lot.
That distinction matters. These are criminally enforceable registration requirements. If Hernando or Pasco wanted information about every vehicle that might be present at a registrant’s workplace, they needed statutory authority requiring that information. An agency cannot enlarge a penal statute through an office policy, registration form, officer instruction, or “this is how we do it” interpretation.
And that is the larger due-process problem: a registrant should be able to read the statute and determine what the law actually requires. He should not discover after the fact that one sheriff’s office has created an additional requirement that does not appear in the statutory text. If different counties are demanding materially different information under the same statewide statute, that is precisely the kind of arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement that raises serious notice and due-process concerns.
So, yes—the Hernando and Pasco officers were wrong to the extent they treated vehicles at a business or workplace as though the statute’s residence-based vehicle provision automatically covered them. Law enforcement enforces the statute the Legislature enacted; it does not get to amend it from behind the registration desk.
Four patrol cars and officers from multiple departments made it impossible for nearby businesses and my customers not to notice. It looked like a drug bust, not a routine matter. I worked shop owner automotive with my wife, next to a video store, and the public display led people to look me up and make assumptions about my past.
Even the video-store owner, someone I am on friendly terms with, saw it that way. He said it was cruel to treat a reformed citizen like that.
And from the standpoint of the FAC lawsuit, this is actually more fodder for the record, not merely another irritating registration anecdote.
Think about what this exchange potentially demonstrates: the Legislature enacted one statutory scheme, yet individual sheriff’s offices may be administering materially different versions of it. One county interprets a reporting obligation one way; another expands it; another may not require the information at all. Meanwhile, failure to comply with these requirements can expose the registrant to criminal prosecution.
That goes directly into the constitutional questions we have been developing concerning fair notice, arbitrary enforcement, lack of meaningful standards, and the practical administration of an increasingly complicated registration regime. The more discretionary additions, county-by-county interpretations, unwritten requirements, and conflicting instructions we can document, the harder it becomes to characterize this as a clear, uniform ministerial registration system.
This is why we need to preserve examples like this and, where possible, obtain the actual forms, written policies, training materials, emails, directives, and statutory interpretations being used by the individual sheriff’s offices. The lawsuit becomes considerably stronger when we can move from “registrants say the system is confusing” to documentary evidence showing that the government agencies charged with administering the law themselves disagree about what the law requires.
That is potentially powerful evidence of the very constitutional defects FAC is challenging.
Not to do with legal challenge but media committee is saving all stories even if not published to have dates, records, and accounts as well. I did mine
https://floridaactioncommittee.org/teams/media/media-committee/The media committee is diligently archiving all stories, published or not, to maintain comprehensive records and accounts. I’ve contributed my part!
https://floridaactioncommittee.org/teams/media/media-committee/
No law governs that just what they stick you with and real reason post access usually is denied. I have been TSA screen harsher for just state travel even interrogated in a room. They can impede travel but make it sure non fun to fly
Cookie
I have a suggestion that worked for me. When I got off probation, instead of applying for jobs that are corporate, I went and sat down with mom and pop shops and explained my situation and many of them gave me a chance. I did everything from car mechanic to home repairs (On that one I had to be with at least one other employee so I had a witness if I got accused of something)
There are jobs out of but have you considered having him run his own business like lawn care. I use to make $100 a day mowing lawns at one point depending on the size of the yard I could make that for 4 yards. At the end of the week I had $600 or more if the weather cooperated. Working for yourself sometimes is the better option, other than not getting health care or other perks, but it is at least a start and could turn into something better along the way.
Hope that helps.
I agree that everyone should come off the registry, but if there has to be a compromise, at least those of us who have been on it the longest for sure should come off. To me the registry is this. Hey, 45 years ago I stole a candy bar and now we are going to arrest you, then let you got but you will have to come to the sheriff’s office several times a year for the rest of your life. “And if you die, you will be arrested” (That part was sarcasm)
We did our time (many retroactively after the fact) but have few options to regain our freedom. And again, this affects our families as well, but the higher ups state “You have only yourself to blame”. Well, if I have only myself to blame, why is my family being persecuted and punished as well?
THAT PART RIGHT THERE!! Why is my family being persecuted is the REAL question. I’ve (my children specifically) have been denied protection from criminal activities multiple times. It’s the same story every time. “You live in a high crime area”, ” no real crime was committed besides this misdemeanor”, etc. If one of us pfr’s were to do what some of these people have done or said to my children, we would be locked up with no bond. We are the next holocaust victims in the making.
Richard
Although you make some good thoughts, However, I would never compare the registry to the Holocaust. In a way I understand what you have said but we might have a registered person killed once in a while, whereas in the holocaust untold thousands were assassinated just because of their race, religion, faith and just because once race of people did not like them.
I have been to Germany to visit the concentration camps and I will tell you, as a grown man, I cried my eyes out once I came back outside the buildings. It was not just adults, but also children being slaughtered.
History is funny in that, it is constantly being written. We can’t predict what those behind closed doors have in store for us, but we can be certain of this: It’s not for our good, so being pessimistic may mean the difference between life and death one day – you never know. Keep watching!
I can’t remember if I became an official member of FAC. How can this be confirmed? Thanks for all you do!
I thought it was awful convenient that happened. If something doesn’t change soon, I fear mass genocide (the woodchipper) is ahead of us. Some places have basically already banished us from their communities, others have all but outright sanctioned vigilantism I feel (TK W). We could save the world from Armageddon, and everyone would still wish death on us instead of being thankful. The hate towards us and even our families has caused myself and some members of my family a deeper hate for the rest of humankind, which is sad because we have always been the caring and helpful kind of family.
After helping an injured man local to me this weekend, he informed me that he and his family knew, and warned me and my family to stay clear from view before something happens to us. Of course no crime was committed because no direct threat was made, but it was clear what it meant. As he was leaving his parting words were “be careful, I’ve seen your kind gets stabbed up in prison all the time”
Yeap…that is not a “veiled threat”….it was a real threat. It is sad…after you helped him, for him to come back and said that to you it is pitiful. You know, what goes around, it comes around, just stay alert, stay vigilant and don’t let your guard down for any reason because to me, it feels as if you already have a mark on your head by that man or those associated with him…
Yeah, I have always kept my head on a swivel, even before all of this. I am one of those that retained ALL of their rights from a withhold of adjudication. I’m not worried so much about myself, it’s my kids and significant other that I worry about. Law enforcement doesn’t care about me or my family either here in Duval county. They are the ones that said no crime was committed because no direct threat was made. Then again, our sheriff all but sanctioned vigilantism with recent comments made, so there’s that. Even defending my family and home would be a legal battle due to my background I imagine, even though we constitutionally have the right to do so.
Losing
There is ZERO reason for weapons to be in prisons, and yet people are getting stabbed, Shanked, and even die. And many of the guards egg on the person to do it. I saw many people get their teeth knocked out and the guard not do a damn thing to stop it. Sometimes the guards dragged someone out of their bed in the middle of the night and we never saw the person again. Most of the time I slept with one eye open.
It’s hard to give a rip about one’s community when one is forbidden from participating in normal events. They’ll let the unrepentant habitual thief or drug dealer participate, though.
And where exactly pray tell, should they go? If Flagler county wants them gone, than they need to get in line, because apparently so do many other counties, and if they have no place else to go, or cannot actually be permitted to go, than I guess you are stuck with them sheriff. Deal with it, because if you keep flooding the justice system with us, than they will have an issue with you as a sheriff. The jails can only hold so many people, and the same for the prisons, so do you want other criminals freed, to make room for us? The whole thing is just a giant control scheme, and a money maker for law enforcement, it’s all that matters to them. The sheriff is no better than a politician, only wearing a badge.
The sheriff IS a politician. He’s elected. Billy Badass needs to swing his manhood around or he looks weak to his constituents. Just more of that testostebro, tough on crime, look at me I’m a tough guy mentality. I eat steel and sht nails so I pick on the least of society because it makes me feel… something.