No longer in FL but on the FL registry?
If you are on the Florida Sex Offender Registry but no longer living in Florida, FAC is organizing a potential legal action to seek removal of those no longer in our state.
There are currently over seventy thousand (70,000) individuals on the Florida registry. In fact; less than half are actually physically present in the community. MOST are incarcerated, moved out of the state, were only here temporarily and had to register, have been deported or are deceased.
The purpose of Megan’s Law (public disclosure) was to create, “notification programs so the public can be warned about sexual offenders living in the community.” Florida’s registry is comprised MOSTLY of people NOT living in the community.
If you remain listed on the Florida public registry, but are no longer residing in a Florida community, you may be eligible to participate. It is important to note that since most FAC members are IN FLORIDA and this potential suit would not benefit them, FAC cannot help in funding this suit. Costs will need to be shared by those participating in the suit and it is our hope that by bringing several similarly situated people together, the pooled resources will enable this lawsuit to move forward, where individual resources might not.
If you are interested in learning more; please contact legal@floridaactioncommittee.org.
My husband and I moved from Florida to Ohio recently, when we arrived and he checked in with the sheriffs dept they told us that he would most likely be removed from the registry in Ohio because it was 10 years ago but would put him in as tier two for now. Two weeks later he looked himself up on the registration list and found he had been changed from tier two and now was classified as a Sexual Predator. No one called to inform us of this change. When it describes his crime it says habitual offender, he was only convicted once 10 years ago in Florida. We called the sheriff and they said the state attorney general wanted it changed to comply with Florida lifetime registration. Sex offender designation by ohio law would remove him here today. He now has to check in every 90 days and live with a Predator designation. How is this legal? What can we do?
Amanda C. – if possible I would contact a lawyer. As far as I know an attorney general cannot just change the nature of an adjudicated crime to “fit” what he wants it to fit. He also cannot just create crimes to get the result he wants (the habitual offender part). I would also pen a letter detailing everything they told you and state the things listed and send it to the attorney general and all representatives you can. Choose a couple of lawyers and send them the letter also. Start keeping names, times, and dates. To me this is a biggie and needs to be addressed. I would also ask the attorney general’s office why they feel the need to comply with FL lifetime registration? It would seem that the highest LE officer in Ohio did not do his homework and assumed that the lifetime registration was because your husband “must be a bad guy” instead of finding out that ALL FL RSOs are lifetime. I would tell him that in the letter. I would bet that some astute lawyer would love the get the AG on the carpet for creating a record that does not exist.
I am very interested in the outcome of this, my son is on Fl. list and we are considering moving to Ohio. If went by Ohio AWA, he would be off in 24 years, but lifetime in Fl.
I was convicted in Pa 11 years ago of one count of possession of child pornography I accepted a plea bargain of 1 year probation and 10 years on Megans
I traveled to Flordia 2years later and had to register there
Although Laws changes that said I would be on Megans for 15 years we went to court and used several Supreme Court Cases that said the plea bargain must be honored. The Judge in Pa agreed and made the State of Pa take my name from the list.
It is still on in Flordia but removed from Pa list. Can I get it now removed from Flordias list using the same court cases or others you may know of.
Attorney Ron Kleiner is working on a case.
If you want your life back it is vital you join the fight against this immediately!
Here is the link to donate and fund this lawsuit:
https://floridaactioncommittee.org/donations/
NOTHING COULD BE MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW TO GET YOU AND OTHER OFF THE FLORIDA LIST!
I think the problem is because the SORNA tiers are considered minimums – so when Fl exceeds that they are considered compliant. Remember SORNA was not written to be fair to RSOs at all. Here is SORNA’s complance info for FL. Not sure how old it is
https://www.smart.gov/pdfs/sorna/Florida.pdf
And here is a FL Senate op-ed on it
http://archive.flsenate.gov/data/Publications/2009/Senate/reports/interim_reports/pdf/2009-312cj.pdf
Rick Scott apparently has a big bee in his bonnet about anything to do with sex offenders.
Is the case based on this one fact: The purpose of Megan’s Law (public disclosure) was to create, “notification programs so the public can be warned about sexual offenders living in the community.” ?
Ok, so the Judge will ask, “So you’re suggesting that because Florida law exceeds the purpose of the statute that they don’t have a legal right to right to tell everyone that they will be on the Florida Registry even after moving out of the State?”
It’s a weak argument in my opinion. There are lots of things that Florida does that either exceeds the purpose and/or hinders the purpose of these laws. There doesn’t seem to be any “pillar” against which the Court can lean – “ok they exceed the purpose, ok so what? It’s also pretty obvious they don’t protect anyone AND make our communities LESS safe as well….
but we’re not prepared, and your case doesn’t even ask us to deem all sex offender laws ineffective today, on what grounds are we to proceed?” Plus, they would see right away the massive unintended consequences that such a ruling would bring: a mass exodus of sex offenders leaving Florida, never to be heard from again, with no guarantee that registration will take place in the new State.
A better case would be to challenge Florida using the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution stating that since the Federal Government has spoken on the issue through the creation of several, expansive laws, that Florida is beholden to now follow the Federal Statutes, when applicable. That means that Florida takes my name off after 15 years since i am a Tier 1 and have met the “good time” provision of minus 5 years, so that means 10 – in fact they’re late already. That’s a much stronger case and the one i’ll be bringing if anyone would like to join me.
rpsabq – what you are stating may be correct but there is a flaw….FL does not have a tiered registry…so removal after 15 years because of tier one does not apply. Also, although there are some RSOs on the registry that moved out of state many more were not even convicted in FL but were only here for a short period and were never residents of FL and yet they remain on the registry. The dead remain on the FL registry. Many remain on the FL registry even if they are removed from sanctions in their state of conviction. I agree that a tiered registry (although anything based on the crime and not the person is not ideal) would benefit many in FL – but this idea would be asking for the whole structure to change in an effort to clean up the FL registry.
I agree and you are right. What you say definitely needs to be done. Luckily, and depending on the individual’s case there indeed seems to be several avenues with which to pursue legal action.
I live in CT and I had to register for 10 years. I visited FL during my 8th year for my honeymoon with my wife. As per probation requirements, I notified the local police where I would be staying. They entered me into the FL database. (They didn’t do this the other 2 times I visited f
FL). Had I known they would do this I NEVER wouldve come to FL. Ive now been off probation for 4 years, off the registry in my state for 4 years, married, and have 2 kids. I can’t even go to the YMCA with my family now because FL still has me registered which puts me on the National Registry which is what companies look at. It’s very frustrating that I can’t put a lot of my past behind me because of a visit to FL. I sent a letter to the FL registry asking if they could remove my name since Ive been cleared in my state but they just said no. I dont know what else I can do to try to get my name off FL list. Any ideas?
Eric – contact attorney Ron Kleiner – he’s working on a case now with defendants who fall into this scenario. His contact information is on our attorney reference page.
No
Can you send me Ron’s full name , address and telephone number. Thank you
Ron M. Kleiner, Esq.
(954)540-0170
Courthouse Center, Penthouse One,
40 NW 3rd Street, Miami, FL 33128.
So i was good to go in ny no jail no treatment no special circumstances (under 14) no posession nor viewing jist interstate transmission on a computer with no graphics capacity(1996). Rented out my laptop but the guy was captured etc. All was ok had long career not on the public list etc. Came to florida now on for life for some reason. Taken in on failure to register but charges not filed and notice of no information filed by da. My statue did not translate into a florida statute directly as it was federal but the fact i was registered as a no level then tier 1 when law changed in ny im ruined. How can this be fair? My case was resolved and to the credit of those involved i was fortunate to have everyone stand bu their agreements. Why can florida do this to us now??? No hearing no thoughts yet they file no info on the failure to register?
I am happy to join your lawsuit. I am certain that if Florida is accepting Federal monies as being compliant with the newly renewed AWA that they must adhere to the trier ranking system.
Of course this is not convenient for them so they have ignored it to artificially keep the sex offender numbers high for more federal and state funds to monitor offenders most of whom are incarcerated, moved out of the state, or would be eligible to get off the damn thing because enough time has passed.
You can contact me at admin@sexoffendertruth.com
Actually Lee, about 5 years ago I asked SORNA this exact question and was told that FL does not have to adhere to the tier system. I, like you, thought that in order to be considered complaint with AWA they would have to….however, I was told that FL “complies enough” with AWA to receive funds and that they are allowed to make state laws “tougher” than AWA guidelines and still remain compliant.
Funny term “complies enough”…I think I am going to start updating my address every other year then. Certainly that “complies enough” to keep me in line with the “law”!
Seems to me that if we don’t cross every “t” and done every “i” and follow the myriad of incoherent and illogical rules/laws that we end up arrested even though my obligation to alert them when I change address I will certainly DO so telling them yearly seems like overkill.
For us it is ALL or nothing so pretty sure that even though it benefits the state to simply comply enough that is NOT good enough.
This needs to be chanllenged in court again so let’s all donate to this case!
Even if a RSO lives in Florida can’t they see that they would benefit from this? Firstly it would shine a much needed spotlight on the registry and how ineffective it is! That is an immediate benefit to ALL as it would open the door to other reforms!
Second, it would be a motive to move out of that god forsaken state and know there is a possibility of getting their lives back!!
I am baffled by EVERYONE is not donating toward the lawsuit the Florida Action Committee is trying to fund to fight this in court.
It is madness NOT to want to see this happen. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and yet most seem to ignore that spark of hope! WHY
No one has yet to use the Federal Statutes against the State of FL. The Tier classification as described in the Statute itself is so specific that just for the sole benefit of the lawsuit itself, little intrepretation would be needed to determine whether someone would be considered 1, 2 or 3 according to Federal Law. In the reading of the Federal Statues I see no indication they would be considered non-binding just because a defendant comes from a state that doesn’t use the Federal tired system. It seems obvious that the Fed. Statute was written with that expectation in mind. Additionally, the Supremacy Clause is such a longstanding pillar of our justice system, much like ex post facto, its seems to me a Federal Court would consider that the stronger issue, rather than specifics of a Tiered system and would seriously consider the case. Florida has a tiered system: Offender and Predator. The federal statues just use an extra category and not does use the term predator, while most states do. I mean if a person can’t take advantage of those Fed statues than who were they written for? Florida is considered “in compliance” for their funding, but they really are not in compliance with Federal Law, not so much because they have no tiered system but because because they have no way at all to allow someone to at least apply to get removed from the list where Federal Law clearly provides for that. I think it’s a strong case… i’ll keep everyone posted.
I have an interesting point here. What if you have been deported and according to the new country where you now live, it is illegal to have any kind of registry due to the Constitution of the said country due to the automatic expungement and rehabilitation clause. This would violate the person’s constitutional right under said country and thus perhaps seek relief? the person is no longer living in the USA so the whole purpose of the registry is now mute and furthermore would violate Europe’s laws on privacy and rehabilitation..thoughts? if this actually works, hello SUPREME COURT…
My crime was a statutory rape 20 years ago.
When I moved to FLA. for a working vacation from NC.,I was placed FLA. registry
When I moved back to NC. and registered I remained on the FLA. registry as well.
I have since been removed from the NC. registry by court order in 2010.
I still show up on the FLA. registry, and that in turn triggers me being on the Federal registry.
So when ever I apply for a job ,I show up as a registered sex offender, that doesn’t work out so well.
You would think that I could send a copy of my NC. court order to FLA. and request that they remove me from their registry, which in return would release me from showing up on the Federal registry. That would be too simple…unfortunately things don’t work that way.
My brother ,a West Palm Beach lawyer contends that the FLA. artificially bloated registry is a determent to FLA. reputation, and tourism. He is trying to get the right parties interested in addressing the issue from that angle.
All seems to be long shoots, and time consuming…
I have been tethered to this thing for over 20 years for my one time mistake.
I have not committed any other crimes, and have been a good citizen, and family man ever since. Yet I am still portrayed (by our government) in a way that has become a life sentence…Past unbelievable!
It’s all about the money with florida