Member Submission: Custody, Rehabilitation, and the Burden That Remains
Custody is a term we often associate with children or legal guardianship, but it extends beyond those common uses. To be in someone’s custody means to be under their care, control, and legal responsibility. Most of us live in our own custody—we control our choices, our schedules, and our futures. But for those who are incarcerated, that custody is taken away entirely.
I know this from personal experience.
Years ago, I committed a serious offense, one for which I am deeply repentant. I accepted responsibility through a plea agreement and served 12 years in prison, followed by 3 years on stringent sex offender probation. During that time, I was under the full legal and physical custody of the State of Florida. Every aspect of my life was controlled: when I woke up, where I worked, how long I could shower, and when I could go to bed. I was counted, searched, and inspected daily. I was told where to live, how to behave, and what to do with my body. I was, in effect, a legal minor in the custody of a parental state—except with fewer rights.
Incarcerated individuals in Florida are legally required to work—without pay. For over a decade, I labored for the state with no opportunity to earn or save. So when I was released, I was handed a reloadable Visa card with $100 on it, the clothes I was wearing, and nothing else. I had no phone, no identification, no money, and no experience using the smartphones that had become essential while I was imprisoned. I had no family, no friends to greet me, and no support network. I was a man stepping out of the past into a present I did not recognize.
And yet, I rebuilt my life.
Through sheer determination and humility, I secured employment and now hold an executive position at a small corporation. I acquired a home of my own, purchased a reliable vehicle, and even acquired two rental properties that now provide me with additional income. I also completed over 13 years of professional mental health therapy and was awarded a certificate of successful completion. I fulfilled every element of my sentence—prison time, probation, financial restitution, and therapeutic requirements.
By every legal and moral standard, I have earned back the right to full personhood—to the custody of myself.
But that is not how I am treated.
Despite completing my sentence in full, I am still compelled to appear in person four times a year for what amount to forced interrogations. During these meetings, I am not afforded the right to remain silent—if I do not answer questions, I am labeled non-compliant and subject to felony prosecution. Though I live independently, work professionally, and have committed no further offenses, I remain under the state’s thumb, forced to comply or face imprisonment once again.
This is called “registration,” but let’s not pretend it is merely administrative. It is surveillance. It is coercion. It is a civil regulation that feels—and functions—as an ongoing sentence.
Some may say, “But you broke the law.” Yes, I did—and I paid for it. Fully. Repeatedly. Painfully. What I object to now is the lack of a pathway back to freedom. I object to the idea that rehabilitation is never enough, that no amount of work, remorse, or restitution can restore one’s civil liberties.
We must ask ourselves: What is the purpose of the justice system? If it is only to punish, then this extended oversight makes sense. But if it is also to correct, to rehabilitate, to restore—then surely we must acknowledge when that mission has been accomplished.
I am not asking for pity. I am asking for logic. I am asking for fairness. I am asking for a society that believes people can change—and makes room for them when they do.
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@anonymous
There is a saying that I cannot remember how it goes, but it basically says that something is what it is not matter how much you alter it. Or a horse of another color is still a horse.
For my opinion, the law makers (for the registry) are swindlers, and get others on board of the train of lies.
I have been on the registry since 1997, and it does not stop me from doing anything. If I wanted to rob a bank, abscond, or many other lists of things, the registry would not stop me. What it does do is get neighbors stirred up, gets a few rare people to murder registrants, causes us to have vandalism, having our mail stolen, false accusations sent our way and makes us isolationist as many neighbors want nothing to do with us.
I still laugh at a few people who drive past my how and if they see me, they have to stare me down like I am standing outside in the nude or something. Do they think if we are outside, they might find us performing a sex act right on the front lawn? God lord people get a freaking life.
BTW, some of those people who try and tear us down have secrets of their own. Take for example, the recent arrest of a well-known Sheriff in central Florida. If you cannot trust your sheriff, who can you trust?
Well written letter. All of us on the registry can relate. As beautiful as Florida is, the laws governing registrants in Florida are way more strict than most other states. I’m glad I was able to visit Disney World, Panama City, Jacksonville, many of the east coast beaches down to Boca Raton, even the Keys before my life was forever monitored. I’ll likely never visit Florida again.
It still confounds me how an off the cuff, unsubstantiated, totally irresponsible comment made by a Supreme Court justice back in the 80’s became the cornerstone of many of the SO laws implemented today. He flippantly said, in a public setting, that people who commit sex offenses have an alarmingly high rate of recidivism. That remark was based on a Psychology Today article he had referenced, which had not been vetted for truth or accuracy, but was essentially an opinion article. Fast forward to today. Here we are, a million Americans, living in a world of lifelong punishment, based largely on an uneducated opinion piece from 40 years ago.
No matter that the hundreds of institutional studies, reams of empirical data, validated opinions of LE officers, courts, social workers, and affected families indicate that the registry DOES NOT WORK as intended, it continues to grow at an alarmingly high rate, nationwide. Why don’t lawmakers want to implement laws that work for the good of public safety, instead of piling on to an already heavily burdened group of ex-offenders who have among the proven lowest rate of recidivism?
@Bob
Other than people on probation, those on the registry I believe are being kept on it because they make money off of us. Registries created jobs, and also thank I do not, but some registrants that are NOT on probation have to pay their sheriff’s office a fee for registering. Now tell me that is not punitive, same thing we had to do when we checked in at the probation office. I smell something fishy going on and it isn’t Long John Silvers.
Powerful letter. Everyone on the registry has shared in those punitive measures. The state of Florida believes only in eternal punishment. I believe that the state actually had had that codified into its statutes. But you’ve managed to survive and build a better life than what either the state or the trolls wishes. That’s inspiring.
My brother, I feel your pain. My journey is similar in Texas, which is a bit easier.
I would strongly suggest contacting River Whitsett with facts not fear and getting the hell out of Dodge. Seriously Europe is the answer. A new start, a clean slate, true freedom. I am once more in a false accusations legal battle again with a good chance of dismissal. I have my passport and when this is over, my friends in Germany stand ready.
Be free brother!
Well you were lucky you got the $100. When I was released, I did not get anything but a swift kick in the butt and a few wise words of “And don’t come back, but if you do, we will be here”. If it was not for my parents, I would have been homeless, because after I got arrested, I lost everything. I had to sell everything I had, to pay for lawyers. And sadly, I wasted my money because the judge threw the book at me with zero mercy. I could have done that myself and saved my lifesavings.
And not blaming the attorney I had, the judge I got was one of the harshest judges I could have gotten at the time. But here I am 34 years later and still on the registry which shadows probation in many aspects. At least in prison we knew what to expect and most times life was routine. But on the registry, my sheriff’s office treats me better than my neighbors do.
Serious Offenses are Red Flags: Germany is particularly sensitive to offenses that pose a significant threat to public safety, especially those involving minors or exploitation. Schengen Area Considerations: Germany is part of the Schengen Area, and countries within this area can refuse entry to individuals with serious sex crime convictions, particularly those involving minors.
Well said. In short, I see registration as an extension of probation. In no world is having to report your changes of address, workplace, internet identifiers, travel, and the vehicles of not just you but anyone who lives with you- not probation. They are the same conditions of probation. It’s ludicrous.
Annon
Better off in prison