Beginning Sunday, Jan. 1, landlords will be required to keep an accurate log of everyone who has been issued a copy of an apartment key.
Also, all employees of any licensed lodging establishment must get a criminal and sex offender background check for every employee they hire. Those who don’t can lose their license.
If you work in any sort of job doing facilities maintenance, be advised of this new law taking place and consult with your employer as to how this may impact your employment.
FAC, I just read this through and what I read does not say that just because one is on the registry that they would be disqualified from employment, Further, my question is what if you’re on the registry for a simple possession charge. Since this is not a “Sexual Abuse” Sex Offense, would this disqualify you from further consideration. Additionally, it states “May” does not this leave it open for the employer or Landlord to make the final decision?>
They keep u homeless. Their intent is for those on the registry is to die u will become a corpse without a grave. Your states attorney vows to her position to commit murder or get everyone on the list incarcerated.
Sounds like a perfect recipe for forced tax and bookkeeping evasion Just like legislation did to drugs. They passed laws which didn’t do anything to solve the use . They only accomplished driving it underground so nobody really knew what was going on with it. Eventually, now they have legalized them and let people out of prison. Another example of government failure.
How might this apply to a sex offender who rents out apartments, or owns their own roadside motel? Would they be forced out their own income earning businesses?
Nothing in this law forces registrant landlords out of business.
This “law” was borne out of 2202’s SB 898 and codified common practices of screening potential employees:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/898/BillText/er/PDF
The screening portion of the bill created another new law:
https://flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/0083.515
The list of disqualifying offenses is not enumerated, but paints a wide swath of red over a large percentage of ex-offenders:
83.515 (3)(b) A criminal offense committed in any jurisdiction which involves violence, including, but not limited to, murder, sexual battery, robbery, carjacking, home-invasion robbery, and stalking.
While the keymaster provision of the bill amended an existing law by adding Section (5):
https://flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/0509.211
And the hourly rate provision spawned yet another new law:
https://flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/0509.098
So more new laws and regulations which are based solely on what a person has done in the past without regard as to whether the person is a risk of committing a present or future crime. More disenfranchisement.
Cherokee Jack
You are sooo right on. Those that are schizophrenic go on medication and never come off. Therapy can help but is not a cure all for everything unless the cause of there actions are pinpointed along with a full understanding of why they must change and a reason for doing so. They may just not understand that there actions are harmful to someone else. A desire to please a higher power who sees all actions can be the most compelling reason for doing so.
The management company said in a statement in October that “all employees are vetted using a national background check service” and that Caballero had “no record of burglary or sexual assault.” (https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-legislature-passes-miyas-law-mandates-background-checks/story?id=83409071)
So if the guy had no criminal background, how would this law have helped to prevent this crime?
No law that has ever been named after a crime victim would have made a difference in the crime that prompted it had it been in effect at the time.
This law in particular is useless for a number of reasons. First, it doesn’t mandate anything that is already being done; employee and tenant background checking is routine (for all the good that does, as shown in this case). Second, what good is the mandatory log? Was such a log needed to find the suspect in Miya’s case? Third, what if someone copies the issued key without the landlord’s knowledge?
This law is just another example of political grandstanding in the wake of a tragic event, written solely to give the false impression of prevention, concern, and accomplishment.
Dustin
You could say the same thing about the registry. If any of us really wanted to offend, a registry will not stop that. And look at how many of us have gone over 2 or 3 decades without a new offense.
What it does do, is divide neighbors into hating anyone living at our homes, even the ones who did nothing. Our kids and grand kids get beat up because they are associated with a monster.
I have been saying the same thing about the registry for years. It’s another, maybe the most prominent, example of a useless law named for a crime victim that would have made no difference in the crime that prompted it, had it been in effect at the time.
Typical grandstanding by politicians. The man who killed Miya had 1 previous allegation of inappropriate behavior towards a tenant. However, police dropped the case for lack of evidence. Therefore, a background check before hiring him would have shown absolutely nothing. I’m sure that the Governor’s biggest disappointment was that the killer was NOT one of those so-called “dangerous” registered sex offenders.
What has me saddened and so dismayed is the fact that many of the legislators who show so much contempt and hate of registered person’s claim to be Christians. What does it mean to be a Christian? It means being Christ-like. Jesus Christ taught, and was the example of, Agape love. That means unconditional love and no respecter of persons. I won’t call any names, but there is a Senator from a southern state who tore into SCOTUS nominee Brown-Jackson, practically condemning her for her views on sex offenders. She was only showing open-mindedness and fairness on the subject. He was attacking her simply because she was not showing, and sharing, his hate and contempt. It amazes me how people can be so hipocritical and act so un-Christ-like, but claim to be so righteous and religious. There is a certain segment of our society whose behavior and lifestyle that I cannot tolerate. But I will always accept them as human beings, a part of God’s creation. I accept everyone, regardless of what they have done, and simply cannot find it in my heart and soul to hate someone because of something they may have done.
One other point of interest is that in my state’s sex offenders treatment program, we were told that sex offenses are not about some insatiable sex drive. That they are serious emotional and mental problems which are acted out in a sexual manner. Anyone else familiar with this concept?
Music man, that is what my therapist says its not about sex its about having some inballance in your life that causes you to act out sometimes your moral compassion goes out of wack and you act out sexually other times you don’t its all about learning to recognize your signs and learning to self regulate . different people may have different signs and that’s why no one can identify who might or might not commit a socially un acceptable act . I say it this way because its not always a sex act , some people may go vomit a murder for no discernable reason or other acts. Hope this helps to answer your question
MusicMan55
Answer to your question . 2 Timothy 3;1-5 versus 1 in the last days-etc. vs 5. Having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power.
@ MusicMan55:
I am familiar with the concept but disagree wholeheartedly with it. I think very few sex crimes are committed as the result of mental or emotional abnormalities, though the small handful of sexual recidivists likely suffer from them.
I would argue that the cause of the overwhelming majority of sex crime is opportunity and the tendency of most people to do dumb things. Some will repeat if they get away with it. But by and large, once caught and punished, the sexual misbehavior stops (as shown by actual recidivism rates) no matter how many times the person has done it before getting caught (which more often than not is zero, popular opinion to the contrary).
The +/- 5% of actual sexual recidivists likely are mentally or emotionally disturbed individuals and they certainly aren’t being helped by the court-ordered “sex offender treatment” programs, which are no more effective than the substance abuse programs they are mere copies of (as shown by the recidivism of drug offenders), simply substituting sex and children for drugs and alcohol. The only reason they can claim success is because 90+ percent of those “treated” were simply not inclined to repeat their offenses in the first place.
It seems to me that the main reason the mental health industry’s tendency to discount the notion of sex crime being the result of poor judgement (as is nearly always the case) has more to do with self-justification of their services than anything else, particularly in court-ordered cases. A problem has to be found or created to justify keeping someone in “treatment” for years and years.
Dustin
I agree. I could have avoided prison but the mental health doctor who my lawyer hired said I had to admit I was sick. I would instead be sent to a mental health facility where I would stay until they deemed, I was no longer sick.
I am glad I turned that deal down because over the years I have seen what happens to people sent to those kinds of places. They come out as vegetables or so hyped up on medications they cannot function.
And you would have only been sick until the money to keep you there had run out. Of course, if the state was paying, that would have been right around never. You’d still be there now if you had agreed to that. Good thing you didn’t.
And the recently re-elected governor dropped several interesting phrases like “tough-on-crime state,” “a state based in sanity,” and made several references to “God Almighty” and the “Lord Almighty” in his re-inauguration speech. I found myself saying “Lord Almighty” for completely different reasons.
I laughed out loud at the “state based in sanity” part. This is the state where the phrases “bath salt zombie” and “pregnant chad” originated. Where’s this so-called sanity? I’m on the registry but I also work indirectly with several county’s government offices like tax collectors, property appraisers and the like through my job. And the one thing I see repeatedly is that, like with registrants, no two counties or cities have the same set of rules. From Brevard’s crazy rules to Dade’s to Polk’s to everything in between, the only common denominator is not making a lick of sense.
🤗 Well, look what’s happening in California!:
‘Fair Chance housing bill: Alameda County becomes first in US to restrict landlords’ use of background checks”
https://abc7news.com/housing-bill-alameda-county-fair-chance-landlord-background-checks/12599501/
😖 Oh, but of course:
“….. landlords will still be able to check prospective tenants against the sex offender registry.” 😠
MusicMan55,
Dismaying as it is it should not surprise us. Profession is not the same as the reality of their practice. I remain in the faith because of the mercy and love of Christ and not the faithfulness (or lack thereof) of the church and its people.
Keep in mind my friends that it was Christ Himself who plainly said, (Matthew Ch 7) [16] You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?
[17] So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. [18] A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will know them by their fruits. [21] “Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Also keep in mind that the earliest recorded gripe of the Pharisees is found in Luke 15 and reads, “[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. [2] And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (I suggest reading the whole chapter for good context)
Being Catholic I find that I have access to 7 books of scripture that the early church also accepted that a lot of modern Christians have never read and don’t even know exist called “Deuterocanonical books”, one of which is the book of Sirach which contains this excellent bit of wisdom and encouragement (at least for me personally). In Sirach 2:[18] I found, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, but not into the hands of men; for as his majesty is, so also is his mercy.” and then in the 8th chapter I read, (Sirach 8:[5]) “Do not reproach a man who is turning away from sin; remember that we all deserve punishment.”
There are couple of other passages that I have found helpful. Back to Matthew 7 I found, Matthew 7:[12] “So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”
Then in the epistle of St. James we find chapter 2 verse [13] “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.”
In closing let me just encourage you all. No matter what these corrupt and hypocritical people say about us and do, WE are the ones sitting at table with Christ. He knows us each and every one as well as we know ourselves and sinners are just exactly who He came to save, so we’re in the good company of the apostles and disciples. After all, St. Peter even told Christ, “Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man.” (Luke 5:8)
One thing has become a sort of mantra for me though not from scripture but from a Founding Father of this nation gone so wrong.
“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.“ -Thomas Paine
Hang in there all.
Interesting, not once did they mention sex offenders.
Wonder why? It is obvious why, the back lash would have been big, The wrath of the scare tactics would begin,, eventually the back lash will start. Oh did you mean except sex offenders? UHHH, well no but dont say that to loud.
None of these measures would have stopped her death in my opinion. When I first got on the registry, a lady who ran an apartment complex said she would look the other way on letting me rent if I could get her son a job. I got him the job but I ended find another place to go for myself.
My point is, all these new laws are just to make people feel good. If someone is determined to do something, it is probably going to happen.
Has there ever been any research on how many people are drawing unemployment compensation or welfare due to these types of laws which make it impossible for someone to get employment?
In Kansas City Missouri a couple years age a law was passed making it illegal to ask on a job application for the city about a persons criminal past. Also there was an article in the Kansas City Star Dec. 23 about a prosecutor who has been taking cases and has been successful in clearing 10 people that had been unlawfully imprisoned due to LE hiding evidence and other things in Missouri and so falsely imprisoning individuals. But the thing that caught my attention was the fact stated that the attorney general involved has been fighting every one with every means possible even though there was overwhelming evidence of these individuals innocent’s. About a year ago a law was passed for the first time making it legal to bring conviction cases back to court. Police departments across the state are fighting it tooth and nail.
I would send you a link but couldn’t find it.
David
The fact they (Law enforcement) doesn’t want to admit they might have arrested people falsely and is trying to block a re-hearing speaks volumes. To me it says it is all about funding the police, jails, prisons etc. and damned if they are guilty or innocent.
Once you are in the system it can take decades to prove your innocence, by that time evidence is gone and witnesses are gone. Guilty until proven innocent.
Seems harmless? For most registrants employed in this industry, background is already known to employer. And a key log? Extra paperwork but sure why not.
Maybe I’m misinterpreting.
I wonder how much of this law is a solution looking for a problem. It’s either that or just another mechanism to help keep PFR’s unemployed and homeless.
Brian it’s always about keeping us unemployed and homeless. The objective is to put us all in prison, they just haven’t actually said so, and haven’t yet made it possible. It’s ultimately their goal, despite the hoops they need jump thru.
Question is, is this law for Florida only or nationwide? I live in Tennessee and this is the first I’ve heard of this law. Thanks for the information though …
Brian I have with you that this law is a bit overrated and discriminatory in and of itself. Why does one need to know if one went to prison or not.
Seems even true justice can take a turn. Once a person’s debt is paid to society that should be it. Authorities just add more fuel to the fire. How will true or true justice come about than.