Just to illustrate how humiliating and life-threatening the “sex offender” label can be, a Jacksonville man whose drivers license mislabeled him a sex offender sued for damages.
Unfortunately, before his case could be heard, the man died of a heart attack.
A clerk at the DHSMV office accidentally checked off a box that identified him as a sex offender. The mistake was caught when he was declined admission to a military base to visit his brother. Unfortunately that mistake wasn’t caught for years, so in the interim he went around and everywhere he showed his drivers license he identified himself as a sex offender.
“I’m going all over town saying, ‘Here, let me slander myself.’ It’s so funny, but it’s so freaking horrible. It’s — oh my God, how do you deal with that?”, he wrote.
Hopefully, his death won’t preclude changes from being made.
My sons DL in FL has a statute number on it but it does not say Sex Offender?
Correct.
Offenders’ licenses are only stamped with the statute. Predators, as of October 2014, have “Sexual Predator” stamped on them.
This way, when they produce their licenses to cash a check at the bank, verify a credit card at a supermarket, show a gas station attendant before purchasing beer or cigarettes, etc. These people can all scorn at the registrant and remind them they are to be shamed.
I don’t know if a study has been done on the issue, but I believe the percentage of criminals who show identification to a victim before a crime is small, so I’m not sure what the scarlet letter accomplishes from a public safety perspective, but it sure helps with the lifetime stigma!
I agree with you – I firmly believe that history will show that this period was (and is) a shocking display of civil injustice and abhorrent behavior against a certain group of citizens. I only hope I live to see the day …