The In Person Challenge (Matthew 25 Ministries v. Swearingen) was dismissed. That’s the very bad news. The not so bad news is it was not dismissed on the merits, it was dismissed because the judge felt Matthew 25 did not have standing to sue on behalf of its members. The other not so bad news is the Judge’s tone in his conclusion:
“Truly l tell you” reads the verse for which Plaintiff is named, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”Matthew 25:40 (NIV). In designing the myriad requirements that pertain to those convicted of sexual offenses, the Florida Legislature may have fallen short of both this creed and the Constitution. Plaintiff lacks standing to contest the latter, however, and its suit must be dismissed.”
As unfortunate as it was to receive the dismissal, the conclusion offered hope. There are several options for moving forward. Among them, an appeal or simply re-filing the same claims with individual members of Matthew 25 (or other options being explored). This is not the end of the road, just a bump in it.
The Order can be read here: M25 v. Swearingen – Order Dismissing
There is now a misconception that we lost this case or that time or money has been wasted.
That is false. No one has lost this case. A motion to dismiss was granted by district court on the issue of standing for a nonprofit.
Not every negative ruling constitutes the loss of a case. In fact, most don’t. That’s just not how the law works. The time and money have been spent on this case so far are going to help us move forward.
Perhaps it’s FAC’s bluntly-written headline that’s throwing people off here. Of all of the FAC legal challenges that we are funding, not one will be free of disappointing rulings. Not one. We need to be ready for that.
The law is hard. If it weren’t, the registry would be fine already.
*”the registry would be gone already.”
A motion for reconsideration and request for leave to amend and substitute Plaintiffs is being filed. If that doesn’t fly, the exact complaint will be filed with individuals as plaintiffs. Everyone needs to chill.
I’m sorry but this is a MAJOR setback. If we can’t even get in-person reporting changed, what hope do we have on ex post facto? It’s time to fully fund the out of state challenge and get out of Floriduh. We’ll all be dead before it gets better.
I disagree – this was NOT decided on its merits. Judge felt the organization lacked standing. Judge also opined that the individuals would likely have standing and that the Legislature might have run afoul of the constitution. How do you see that as a major setback? It’s majorly hopeful. We just substitute individuals for the organization.
My statement is based on the fact that no matter how hard-fought it was, we lost the case. I do not wish to impugn or question the competence of FAC attorneys, but a lot of time and money was consumed and, IMHO, we lost on a technicality.
Moving forward, again IMHO, refiling with individuals would be better than an appeal. Whatever we do, I hope for the best outcome and know that FDLE will fight us tooth-and-nail. I realize that I may come off as cynical, but like many other registered citizens, my time on this earth is running out. I do not want to be remembered for just being a “sex offender.”
You bring up a point I made to my Mother. We were attending a funeral for a long time family friend from church and I told my mother is jest, ” I hope when I die, they do not put on my tombstone “Here lies Sex offender Jack , He’s dead now, he won’t be back “. My Point was, some people see us as a label and not a person, just like the old Scarlet letter time period when undesirable people had letters sown onto their clothing stating what they did which became who they were. Each morning I wake up not in prison or jail I thank the Lord above. Even though I am not doing anything wrong, I live in fear that next knock at the door could be the boogy man ( Law enforcement ) coming to take away my right to freedom for whatever new rule they came up with since my last registration.
I respectfully disagree. When a judge instructs the plaintiff/s on the next step that is awesome! They sometimes do that. Florida is in the cross-hairs due to a couple of highly publicized cases. Take advantage of that.
Thank you for your comment and opinion. As noted in my reply to FAC, we lost time and money so I can only see this as a setback. I am hoping for a better outcome, but all I have seen is small victories which may have prevented things from getting worse, but not much is getting any better. More restrictions and penalties are piled on year-after-year. I just hope I can live long enough to get off the registry.
“Plaintiffs Amended Complaint is DISMISSED W ITH PREJUDICE”
thats not good 🙁 a year wasted must be refilled or appealed
A lot of Florida judges better hope the God of the Bible does not exist, otherwise hell will be filled with them.
Even my personal legal victory in Florida was hard fought. I felt like David without a sling and a stone.
But God always prevails in the end.
God forgives and forgets, people not so much
Not just in-person registration but “myriad requirements” may fall short of the constitution, observes the court!
Hopefully individual residents of Miracle Village, as with ex post facto plus plaintiffs, will be permitted to proceed anonymously, if the organization truly doesn’t have standing.
Thank you FAC.
I, for one, have no problem standing before the court to wage this fight; my face and my name revealed for all to see. After all, with a simple clock of a mouse, my face, my name, my address, and my offense are publicly accessible. Those who live by me, those who employ me, and those who love me, know all this already. Why try and hide? Where do I sign up? Who do I contact?
Thanks Kevin! We’ll be in touch as soon as there’s a final determination on appeal vs. refile.
Sign me up too. I’m a warrior and ready for a good fight.
I think it best to refile The judge seem petty straight forward on his order. Appealing it could anger the judge and be decided on the merits then all will be lost I rather refiled The judge is actually helping out here
I will stand with my. Brothers and Sisters as well.
I’LL stand up as well; accused in 98 verdict in 1st half of 99 been in this hell ever since. afraid to sneeze as it may be some violation