Pinellas County man jailed for registry violation assaulted and on feeding tube.
Those saying the registry is non-punitive can answer to this one. James Mills, who was housed in Pinellas County, FL jail for a registration violation was attacked by Charles Allen, who was incarcerated for a murder charge.Mills was left with a traumatic brain injury and has been in the hospital for the last month. He cannot talk and relies on a feeding tube for nutrients,
When the consequences of a registration violation (which is supposed to e civil and “non-punitive”) is incarceration and so many people required to register being killed in jail, the argument that registration is like “filling out a membership form at price club” goes out the window.
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Would it be possible to include a link to an original article so we can reply there? The way it is without such a link limits comments to our own echo chamber without engaging anyone else (for better or for worse).
https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/brutal-assault-leaves-pinellas-inmate-relying-on-feeding-tube-unable-to-speak/1289358342
Basically a registration violation is now effectively a death sentence, and the laws are written widely vague and open to interpretation. Nope not punishment at all.
“Registration is like ‘filing out a membership form at price club.'” Really??
Can you tell us who the f**king idiot it was that made that quote?? I’m sure it was someone in government.
When Sam’s Club becomes getting clubbed by Sam
No, it was Roberts, who happens to be the same person who is a Supreme Court Justice. Figure that crap out.
Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of radical authoritarian ultranationalism, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and control of industry and commerce. Remind you of anyone?
The “Price Club” notation was uttered by none other than the state’s attorney pushing for the registry, John Roberts…coincidentally, now the Chief Justice. Here is the relevant portion, which was a response to a question given with regard to affirmative steps of registration:
I believe it was supreme court justice kenneday . Smith vs. Doe 2003.
I think a good angle would be to look at U.S. v Kantor:
“courts consider the appropriate penalty accorded to crimes which can be committed without criminal intent by the severity of harm to the public interest occasioned by individual violations.[27] ”
And challenge the felony aspect of the strict liability crime of Failure to Register. I think it would be much easier to give magnitude to the lack of harm caused by a failure to register than any benefit of that registration.
Making it no longer a felony would mean counties would be responsible for enforcing registration and also for punishment for a misdemeanor. Cash strapped counties are going to be much more receptive to relaxing registration requirements once they can’t pass you off to the State. Assaults like this would be much easier to sue over when the narrative becomes “My client was assaulted, rendered unconscious, and now lives only through the use of a feeding tube because Pinellas county chose to encarcerate him for a misdemeanor no more dangerous than a speeding ticket.”
Family members, friends, any one with legal backgrounds, people should be lighting up the phone lines of congress over this. Charges should be pursued against the attacker, against the jail, and against the state for putting this man in a life threatening dangerous situation.
Saw the same in Michigan prison when someone serving a life sentence kills a sex offender just for a thrill, knowing that the state can’t increase his punishment anyway. Then they can brag about to other inmates, because all they did was kill a “chomo”, the slang term for child molester when I was incarcerated. It doesn’t even matter if the guy was actually there for molesting a child or not. That is how we were all branded.
Would you or anyone else be able to give insight as to how much harder it is for people convicted of a sex offense to survive in prison? I am being accused of a sex offense right now, of which i did not do, and prison is a possibility.
EB – MANY, MANY of the contributors to this post have survived incarceration for a sexual offense. Some places are worse than others, state is generally worse than federal, but by this point the percentage of “sex offenders” in the system is so high that the risk and isolation is not like it used to be. Like I said, many got through it – you will too.
Just as we pass bad sex laws from isolated incidents, so too do we read a lot into isolated incidents in prison. They are not typical, especially in the feds, except maybe at the highest security level, where the inmate population sets certain rules about where SO’s may and may not go. But my guess is most have come out without ever having been assaulted. And as FAC points out here, an SO in prison is hardly alone. For those who begin their sentence in county jail or detention center, it may seem quite grim, but it is usually uphill from there.
I would add, in those cases where SO’s DID get assaulted, it may have had nothing to do with their being SO’s. They could have gotten belligerent and disrespectful towards a volatile person, for example. And some component of this is on display in this Pinellas County incident, which allegedly involved a dispute over the remote. And County jail, where people of different security levels are all mixed together, tends to be short term.
Thanks for the info….glad i found this site.
what i don’t understand is if it is civil how that translates into criminal. One world gov. is coming soon. they removed our freedom of travel and other countries are doing it as well. placing people in prison for what is legally deemed a civil matter. it just starts with sex offenders, now some are starting to do it with animal abusers, what group is next?