Let’s educate ActionNewsJax about the cause for transient registrants
ActionNewsJax, just ran a story titled, “Homeless sex offenders become growing Florida problem”. Their story (which can be seen below) implies that registrants are somehow intentionally registering themselves as transient in order to evade detection, but that is absolutely NOT the case!
The growing number of transient registrants is the unintended consequence of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORRs) enacted in the State and most municipalities that prevent individuals from living 1000, 1500, 2500 or even farther from places like schools, parks, day cares or “places where children congregate”. That leaves very few housing options. In some cities, this has left fewer than five residential properties which are compliant with the laws.
As more people are added to the list with zero attrition (in Florida registration is for life), the number of people on this list is continuously growing, while the availability of housing is continuously shrinking.
If citizens view “homeless sex offenders [as] becom[ing] a growing Florida problem” they should contact their lawmakers and encourage them to repeal the SORRs.
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They will never defend sex offenders in the media, but the fact that you don’t even hear that word in the tampa area news stations is saying a lot IMO.I believe they know, but that’s as close as they can really go with it. Not after how much it used to be sensationalized. Jacksonville is behind the times and way more conservative.
Everyone, Please Remember, This Reporter and its Affiliates VIOLATED THEIR FIDUCIARY DUTY UNDER LAW!
THE MEDIA IS RESPONSIBLE TO BRING FACTS, NOT HYPERBOLE!
IF, I WERE ‘THEY’, I WOULD RUN FOR LEGAL COVER!
Interesting. Since when does the media have a “fiduciary duty“ to tell the truth? Generally, the standard is absence of actual malice. That’s kind of the equivalent of gross negligence on their worst day. Do you actually know what constitutes a fiduciary duty?
Thanks guys, you’re the best. I actually used to be in broadcasting, a million years ago, and around the time of the gmc shootings I noticed the media trending away from informative, substantive, important news and towards the shocking, titillating, tabloid crap that now passes for news. I got out not long after . I wouldn’t wish them on anybody else, but I wish like hell they would lay off this topic for a bit, or for someone to notice that hey, not one of these stories actually mentions an offender doing anything whatsoever to harm a single person, they’re just trying to live their life . Yeah, I know that’s not news either , but it ought to be! Thanks for staying in the fight, these baby steps seem small but they are cumulative and will make a difference!!
Good point Rachel. I keep my eyes open for stories of SOs reoffending, and there are very few.
I’m old enough to remember when news departments were subsidized by the entertainment sections of networks, and thus were free to engage in actual journalism. That changed when bean counters decided news departments were to become independent profit centers. Incentives changed, so news reporting degenerated.
The old mantra was “if it bleeds, it leads.” That has morphed into “if it sizzles it sells,” and nothing sizzles like sex offender panic.
Veritas.
Rachel d….I was on a very popular morning Cable Network News Show weekly for an 11 year period….News is News…BUT we only ever reported the FACTS!
I sent a detailed email to the station’s News Director, Mr. Pascal Head. His email address is [email protected].
I got a follow up email from him. Seems they may want a follow up interview on this story.
That would be great. I didnt have the time to do this but can anyone find something that shows how much of the city is off limits due to the restrictions? I know Levenson did a study years ago on this topic but the study was specific to South Florida
Thank you for this email address.
My email to the reporter, hope others follow up.
Derek Logue iamthefallen1@yahoo.com
To: [email protected]
Your report does not explain WHY there are homeless registrants.
Jacksonville’s local residency restriction laws extend far beyond the state laws of 1000 feet, and the state laws are not retroactive to those before the law was enacted, unlike the Jacksonville ordinance, which has less of those safeguards in place:
Sec. 685.102 – Sexual predators residency requirements.
(a)It is unlawful for any person who is required by Florida law to register as a sexual predator to reside within 2,500 feet of any school, public library, day care center, park, playground, or other place where children regularly congregate.(b)A person residing within 2,500 feet of any school, public library, day care center, park, playground, or other place where children regularly congregate does not commit a violation of this Section, provided that the sexual predator is in full compliance with probation, parole, or conditional release and does not commit another sexual offense, and was in compliance with the residency restrictions prior to July 1, 2005, if any of the following apply:(1)The person established the permanent residence prior to July 1, 2005.(2)The person was a minor when he/she committed the offense and was not convicted as an adult.(3)The person is a minor.(4)The school, public library or day care center within 2500 feet of the persons permanent residence was opened after the person established the permanent residence.(c)A person who violates subsection (a) shall be guilty of a class D offence.
(Ord. 2005-629-E, § 3; Ord. 2010-836-E, § 4)
Note— Former § 674.502.
This essentially places the vast majority of housing unavailable to many registrants. It only took me a minute to find this.
Derek W. Logue of OnceFallen.com
Registered Citizen/ Civil Rights Advocate
#abolishtheregistry
Great points! I’m pretty sure law enforcement would also rather track and check on sex offenders who are living at a real address. Versus in the woods somewhere.
I love the fear-mongering reporting that doesn’t even check into the root causes. No wonder the panic-fueled general public votes for lawmakers who pass ignorant laws just for political points.
The media is definitely exploiting the boogeyman component of the label for easy ratings, increased viewership and profitability.
We’re the golden goose for the media, lawmakers and law enforcement by them playing politics and GOD with our lives.
Monetizing misery should be illegal.
Was this report at 210 and I-95 making it in St. Johns Co?
The report invokes stranger danger and challenges deputies to harass homeless registrants. Yet it implicitly acknowledges that not one sex crime has resulted from this apparent lack of oversight.
So frustrating.
I have often driven through this interchange, but it did not occur to me that transient registrants live there. Local business owners don’t seem to be bothered by it. That could change with Action News Jax stirring things up. Hopefully, SJC Sheriffs Office knows better than to take their bait. They have better things to do.
You run homeless off from one spot and they end living in the bushes behind the city commisoners house. All actions have equal reactions. You run over a nail, you will probably get a flat.
You run people off from their camps, they have to live somewhere. I see homeless people sleeping on bus benches all the time with an elderly bus rider having to stand in the hot sun until the bus arrives, sometimes 45 minutes apart. The police use to run them off but the NAACP stopped that.
If you seal up your attic where racoons got in, they will either find another way in or go to the neighbors attic. Every living creature needs a place to lay their head and rest.,
PS: The reporter’s email address is
[email protected]