Is it really worth it? What’s the cost of registration violations?
In Florida, registration is for life. We have people with 20, 30 year old convictions who are still on the list, have to comply with a long list of requirements, and if they don’t – it’s a felony.
Take, for example, the case of C.B. (no need to use his real name and have another harassing link up when he’s googled, but you can read the original report in yesterday’s Ocala News.)
He’s registered 30 times in Florida, last month reported he was moving to Georgia after his home was rendered uninhabitable and he couldn’t live with his mom and would have been homeless.
According to the mother, the family that was supposed to send him bus fare didn’t and he stayed in Ocala. Rather than live homeless, he stayed with his mom, but he couldn’t report that he was living with her, because there was a residency restriction. So he couldn’t go back to his home because it was condemned. He couldn’t go to Georgia until he could raise the money for bus fare. And if he reported he was staying, he wouldn’t have been able to stay with his mom and would have had to live homeless.
The problem is; reporting you’re leaving the state and not leaving within 48 hours is a third degree felony. C.B. is being held without bond in Marion County Jail, his first appearance is Oct. 22.
When he eventually gets out, he will have another felony, plus he will have incurred a bill from the Marion County Jail, which charges its inmates an intake and daily subsistence fee (that’s what it costs inmates – it costs taxpayers more than $50/day/inmate). He’ll be homeless and deeper in the hole when it comes to affording his bus ticket to Georgia. Is it worth it?
Incidentally, his conviction is from 22 years ago. A Statutory Rape from when he was 19 years old.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
While I absolutely agree that the registry is a horrible burden on not only me (us) but our families as well. My wife and I deal with this almost daily here in Brevard county. The registrant that’s in this article really bears the full responsibility for his violation. If he’s registered 30 times here in Florida then he knows the rules. If his violation had been the result of a 48 hour violation then I’d be 100% sympathetic to his plight but this started over a month ago and he could have taken care of this and avoided the whole issue.
What I didn’t say in my first post is that if we don’t scrupulously follow the rules, no matter how stupid or burdensome, then all we do is live DOWN to all of the outrageous public opinions and fears that the registry creates.
I ditto Rogers’ statement The guy knew what he had to do.He could have went to sheriff office and told them change of plans. I lived homeless in Fla. It is not fun thing to do but it had been better than jail. 30 times he had register He knew what was required I would be more incline to give him sympathy if was starting out or just released from prison and did not know. Before I am hated I feel EVERY Registar person has a responsibility to know what is required of them. I might not see eye to eye with Roger But I stand with him on his statement!!
I think the point is, this kind of incident proves that the registries requirements ARE in fact punitive. If they were in fact civil as the law makers like to fairy tale us, you could not be arrested for violating a civil matter ( in all but extreme incidents ). If you are not on probation and have served your time, the registries are a way to get us to mess up and return to prison for life. Not paranoid, the truth.
No other group of felons who have done their time have these types of extreme measures to violate our rights to move on with life. Many of us completed our sentences decades ago. We made some mistakes that devastated the accusers and their families, our own families and ourselves but have proved with 30 or more years of no issues that we are not repeat offenders and have rebuilt our lives somewhat but with a fear of every day wondering of law enforcement will swarm our homes, our work or pull us over to retract the little freedoms we enjoy because we were not home when they came to verify our address.
Yes this guy messed up and made mistakes but if they the registries were what they started out as , an online tool for law enforcement that only they could see, and with online reporting only needed if there is a change, we would not be getting locked up every time we drive through a small city with bored officers just looking for trouble.
The guy deserves nothing but sympathy. Requiring a person to Register cannot be justified in any way. Therefore, this criminal regime is in the wrong and committing crimes. By definition.
Having said that, the Registries are a weapon that is used by criminal regimes and therefore every person who is forced, at the point of a gun, to Register should jump through all of the hoops as needed simply and ONLY to neutralize their weapon. That is the ONLY reason to care about their “laws” or any concerns anyone has about it.
It sounds like the guy was just having a very rough spot in his life. Good job for the criminal regime to add to his problems. God forbid that those scumbags actually try to help someone who is struggling and having problems. They should’ve looked at how hard he has tried in the past to jump through their hoops and considered cutting him some slack. If I were the guy, I absolutely would have to retaliate. It would be required. Lots of people would have to lose.
Please tell me how anything other then direct , possibly physical resistance to the corrupt regime of AmeriKa will give anyone the restoration of the God given freedoms all men were born with? the courts of the corrupt have failed you, as it was sure they would..Today you suffer Modern day tortures, and slavery’s…worse by the day with an increasing number of imaginary slights that can add one to the hit list for tormenting..Men dont choose armed resistance because they have any other choice. It is chosen for them by their oppressors by leaving them no other choice.
they choose resistance when the alternative becomes unbearably worse then the fear of potential death in resistence…..Tell me again that death is not a better alternative at this point then continued oppression ?
Actually, it’s a second degree felony:
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0943/Sections/0943.0435.html
943.0435 (8): “A sexual offender who reports his or her intent to establish a permanent, temporary, or transient residence in another state, a jurisdiction other than the State of Florida, or another country but who remains in this state without reporting to the sheriff in the manner required by this subsection commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.”
Just amazing how something thats not criminal can be a felony for something thats not punitive.
I have read over 10 decisions from different states that have turned down expo facto challenges saying they are civil therefor there is no violation of expo facto.
I cannot find any other “Civil” matter where someone was arrested for violating it. So if we are not being punished, how can we be arrested if we forget to register an old email we no longer us and go to prison for it? Are judges so stubborn and biased that they cannot themselves follow the rule of law? Why are we being sent to prison for civil matters? I have never been a conspiracy person but this is a blatant attempt to get us all back behind bars for life. I never once violated my probation which was much easier than these dangerous registries.
Time to fight back via harnessing relationships in salons and barber shops to get elected officials kicked out of office. I have done it. Seems we registrants have nothing to loose in trying. Just email or Youtube: [email protected]
Ive mentioned this type of issue in the past, citing the protections of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution. That is, in every case there is a court order or specific statute the compels us to register under threat of sanctions for failing. We have to provide information via testimony that can be used against us us in a subsequent prosecution. To make a Fifth Amendment claim, we only need to establish 3 things: (1) Compulsion, (2) testimonial act or communication, and (3) incrimination. See US v Doe, 670 F.3d 1335 n. 15 (2012). Each one of us can make this claim at registration but it would be far better to make it in the federal courts under a civil right action and ask for declaratory and injunctive relief. Given that the above case is binding to all lower courts in the 11th Circuit, the case can be made to any federal court in Florida, Alabama or Georgia. I know this costs money and names of plaintiffs but that can be done.