“Registered Family”
In a comment on another post someone used the term “Registered Family” and I thought it was very appropriate.
We are not just persons required to register, we are families required to register!
If you share a home with someone on the registry, the police regularly show up at your doorstep, the car you drive is registered, you cannot decorate your home on the holidays, you clean up the vandalism and the neighbors give you the same dirty looks.
If you are the child of someone on the registry, you are the one that gets bullied and shamed in school, you are the one that doesn’t have birthday parties or sleep overs, you are the one whose father (or mother) can never come to your games, plays or graduations.
If you are the spouse of a person required to register you need to carry the finances because your partner will be chronically unemployed or under-employed, you need to cover most if the parenting because your spouse can’t go to schools, parks, theme parks or other places your children will want to go, you will be banned from living in most areas on your city, you can’t travel to the places you want (or you will need to go alone) and you need to worry about aging because most assisted living facilities won’t take your husband.
If you are the employer, clergy or even just a friend of a person required to register you will suffer the scorn of merely associating with them or allowing them into your business, congregation or life. The registry does not only punish the registrant, it punishes everyone in their life.
We are not just persons required to register, we are families required to register!
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WELL SAID!
The Most Harmful policies ever purputated upon American Citizens
Maybe the family members bring lawsuit against this unwanted punishment
There you go. Here is my example my wife got a car for our oldest daughter to use at college. It’s in my wife’s name, tag title and I could do separatel insurance. Why is it on my profile?
The answer is it shouldn’t be. I don’t own it. My in laws go out of town and want to park their car at my house for security reasons. Why would I have e to list it. It’s not my car.
This is helping protect the public how? How is this least restrictive? Etc etc.. the list goes on
This part of the registry injustice is particularly disturbing. As I have a daughter that was 4 yrs. old when I was put on the registry . I had gone through a divorce when she was 2 . I was awarded visitation, but after my ex found out I was on the registry she refused to give me my visitation with my daughter. Though I took it to court several times the judge told her she was required to follow the previous order but she continued to refuse so because I was on the registry the judges refused to do anything to enforce the visitation orders. So my daughter grew up without a Dad, except by phone with her mother listening in at all times. She is now 27 and married but not happily. They say the registry is for the children, but how can they justify it when it destroys the lives of a hundred times more children than it protects. The sad part too is I was falsely convicted, though I know they will never believe it, and it’s useless to try and prove it. I’m sure this story could be told by others with similar experiences a thousand times. What is it going to take?
Nice to hear encouragement from everyone. Those who really know me haven’t acted judgmental. We do tend to blame ourselves though when our family is hurting because of it. As the article points out, most people don’t even consider the fact that the registries also punish family members who have done nothing wrong. On the bright side, the police in my area are actually reasonable and don’t bother registrants for no reason. Just have to keep praying for legislators to wake up to the truth too.
The stigma is so strong that my 3 children even considered changing their last name while I was in prison. While they didn’t go through with it, they still prefer that I not use my last name in online communications with them. I am good friends with a female neighbor right now, but I am afraid to pursue a deeper relationship with her for fear that she would find out about my status. In fact, I would feel honor bound to tell her before taking our relationship to a new level. I am fearful every day about losing friends in my neighborhood if they learn that I am on the registry. It seems like no matter how good you are to people, it can never overcome that past crime.
Man don’t be so hard on yourself no one really cares or looking about you or what you did or where you live except the cops that’s duty’s to bring you in for an unregistered car or email and keep the courts rich off bulls shit which they earn a patches for unfortunately your kids went through hell im sure it’s lowered their self esteem and put them in a lower objectives crowd in school counseling or drugs should help life is short I hope y’all move past this dumb shit
Gerald, I feel your pain. I also feel bound to tell people who grow close to me (friends, etc.). I don’t want them to be blindsided by getting the information from somewhere else. These people already know me fairly well by the time i tell them. This gives them the ability to weigh what they know about me with who the registry claims i am. I have come out on top every time. A side “benefit” is that i choose my friends carefully and weed out any of those that are mercurial. These people could never be real friends with anyone anyway. The one real exception to my policy was my wife. There were a few factors that weighed in on my decision but mostly I knew from the first date that she was special. At the end of the first date, we sat down and I laid it all out. I then asked, that knowing everything, did she want to continue. She replied that she did and the rest is history. We will be married 15 years this year.
I believe that all of our families and even some employers will have grounds for law suits once this registration crap is found to be illegal.