In an article on South Florida’s CBS4 News on vaccinating the homeless, Miami-Dade Homeless Trust Chair Ron Book made an interesting statement. “The average homeless person lives 13 to 17 fewer years than either you or I will live,” he said. 17 years is a lot of years. That’s more than 20% of the average lifespan in the US.
It got me thinking… If there are actual statistics to back up that statement, and we know there are studies to demonstrate that Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORRs) lead to homelessness, we have a causal connection between SORRs and a pretty significant lower life expectancy.
The government has been arguing for years that Florida Statute 775.215 (Residency restriction for persons convicted of certain sex offenses) as well as the myriad of County and local SORRs are not “punishment”. The primary rebuttal has been that SORRs are tantamount to common law banishment, which has historically been considered punishment. In many states that argument has prevailed, but no such luck in Florida.
But would being legislated into a consequence resulting in a reduced life expectancy constitute punishment? Untimely death is a “pain or loss”, isn’t it? Even prisoners (who are unquestionably being punished) have safeguards to protect against “non-punishments” that harm them. For example, when it comes to scientific research involving the use of inmates, 45 CFR §46.306 states that the research can involve “no more than minimal risk and no more than inconvenience to the subjects;”
… sure walks and quacks like a duck, huh?
Book is a smart idiot.
Of course it’s a silent genocide, but they continue to play dumb with the “public safety” argument.
“The government has been arguing for years that Florida Statute 775.215 (Residency restriction for persons convicted of certain sex offenses) as well as the myriad of County and local SORRs are not “punishment”.
While I’ll no longer get into the details of my case, SS_Analysis 2004 clearly states the legislature intent of 794.065 ( “UNLAWFUL PLACE OF RESIDENCE”) was to “CREATE A NEW CRIME”. The punishment imposed for violating this criminal statute is conditioned upon the penalty impose for the original offense. If the original offense was classified as a first degree felony or higher violation of 794.065 (Now 775.215) would be classified as a third degree felony; If the original conviction was classified as a second or third degree felony the violation would than be classified as a first degree misdemeanor.
While else where,the penalty imposed for failing to register is for that failure and is imposed regardless of the classification of the original offense. That is everyone, regardless of original conviction, would face a third degree felony. Finally unlike other remedial sex offender statutes, this is the only one applied prospectively which clearly indicates the legislatures intent to “punish” and avoid any potential ex post facto prohibitions.
In short, 775.215 is penal and violation of its provisions would constitute a new crime.
Regulated into homelessness due to Mr. Books advocacy work, I was forced to endure chemotherapy and radiation therapy, while living out of the back seat of my car. Nights spent in the Red, Blue or Green parking garages, puking into barf bags, curled up in the back seat of my car suffering with severe abdominal pain, was nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment. You see, Senator Lauren Books ordinance makes no exception to the law for those with chronic health conditions such as mine. We’ve been regulated to die in the streets of Miami like dogs.
As my condition continues to worsen, one morning a Miami herald headline we read “Homeless sex offended found dead in car”. Surely they’ll highlight my 1998 conviction while minimizing the impact of Senator Lauren Books sex offender residency restriction has on those suffering with chronic life ending conditions.
A good example of this is the case with Doe # 5 in Doe V Miami Dade. While mentioning his passing the court glossed right over the impact of how being regulated into homelessness had on shortening his life. After all he, (we), are MONSTERS, sex offenders, good riddance.
CMC
Are you not able to make it to another county? Some counties in Florida are not as harsh. I heard some counties in Central Florida are more forgiving since there is such a large population of offenders in that area.
DouglasO:
I believe you’re referring to a withheld adjudication. You are lucky if your adjudication was withheld because you’re not required to register in most states. Anyone with a withheld adjudication should be contacting attorneys in other states to see where they are not required to register.
The 4th Circuit in U.S. v Bridges ruled that registrants are still subject to SORNA if they move interstate. I believe this is a bad decision because it uses SMART guidelines to support an element of the offense. A government agency cannot create an element of an offense to a crime. Besides, this directly conflicts with U.S. v Clarke (822 F3d 1213, 11th Cir., 2016) which states a withheld conviction in Florida is not a conviction and therefore someone with a withheld conviction may possess a firearm. Clarke was decided when the 11th Circuit requested an opinion from the Florida Supreme Court (Clarke v U.S., 822 F3d 1107, FL Sup Ct, 2016) which clarified that a withheld adjudication is not a conviction.
In all fairness to the 4th Circuit, it was decided in 2014 so they didn’t have the benefit of the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling in 2016.
If you are confused, you’re not alone. The law says you have to register but you can possess a firearm.
What makes this such a deal for Florida registrants is that few if any other states has an adjudication withheld. The closest thing in most states is holding a plea in abeyance until a person successfully completes probation and a finding of not guilty is entered if they successfully complete probation. In most states, this is not a conviction so they are free to go on with their lives. Any registrant in Florida with a withheld adjudication in Florida should contact attorneys in other states, show the two Clarke decisions to the attorney and see if they are required to register in that state. This could well be your ticket off of the registry. If you’re not willing to do this much, then the registry isn’t that much of a burden for you.
Will ACLU file an as-applied challenge? That was their next step, I thought.
Or are they just going to drop this?
Jacob, what do you mean?
Jacob, if your referring to Doe V Miami Dade County the SORR challenge, the Judge clearly articulated “the contention regarding the rational basis for the residency restriction was undone by the testimony of the plaintiffs themself:
a) John Doe #6, for example, admitted that one of the techniques that he has learned in sex offender treatment is not putting himself in situations where he can get urges towards children. By his own testimony, John Doe #6 noted that this technique specifically includes staying away from schools.
b) During trial, John Doe #6 testified in greater detail that he makes it a point when walking past schools to walk purposively past the school so as not to let his mind wander.
If sexual offenders are instructed during therapy sessions to take concerted effort to not let their mind wander when walking around schools, both the County and this Court are free to question whether the community should take the risk of increasing the frequency of those impulse checks by allowing sexual offenders to live closer to schools. Certainly, it is rational to limit the potential for incidental contact between sexual offenders and children and thereby create additional barriers to the incidence of child molestation beyond the sexual offender’s own faculties for impulse control.
d). Similar support was offered by John Doe #4 who admitted at trial that he would prefer to be located in housing that was far away from women and children in order to avoid being falsely accused of another sexual offense.
Upon reading this I was not only left baffled but really outraged. Had not any of these plaintiffs met with counsel BEFORE giving such self destructive testimony?
CMC
I went through one of those treatment programs when I was on probation. I was one of the lucky ones as I had group therapy. When others shyed away from talking, I always volunteered to talk and share.
After about 4 months, I was graduated from the class. The therapist spoke on my behalf that I was no more a danger to the public than any other citizen. That alone got the rest of my sentence thrown out.
Having said that, the type of therapy you speak of is more of a mind melding that I think makes things worse. Especially if they throw everyone into the same classification. A 20s something guy who slept with his 15 year old girl friend is different than somebody who picks up small children and rapes them.
Now both are illegal. Both are wrong. Both are treated the same and have to register for life. We are basically the only grouping of offenders who they do this to.
What is even more odd, one day seperates if you have to register or not. My Crime was 1991. Registry started here in 1997. I was still in probation in 1997. Someone who committed a sex crime in 1992 but got off probation a day before the registry started in 1997 is Scott free, other than still have a record.
Some poor sap who committed a sex crime in 1970 and gets released in 1998, has to register I suppose. I think when lawyers go in to fight these illegal registry retro active applications, the judges hear “Blah blah blah” while they file their nails or listen to a podcast of the sports scores.
FAC, I thought Miami SORR case was lost on a technicality. Doesn’t the above suggest otherwise?
Either way, is ACLU not planning on filing an as-applied challenge?
At this time they are not.
Media:
Thanks for bringing up that point. There are people working behind the scenes every day that don’t get credit for their work. Derek knows this. The fact is, there are 30,000 non-incarcerated registrants in Florida and there isn’t even 3,000 active in this cause. Perhaps 300 are active on a regular basis and their work is appreciated. However, 99% do little to nothing.
I knocked on the doors of several dozen registrants trying to get meetings going. They had every excuse in the world not to attend meetings. The registry is just not so onerous on 99% of registrants to get them to participate. States are passing legislation almost every day to make registration more onerous. States are trying to legislate registrants out of the communities and into prisons and civil commitment centers. It’s only a matter of time until registrants are legislated away from cities and out into BFE where they will be away from the services they need. Ron Book’s goal isn’t to force registrants into homelessness in Miami. His goal is to force them as far away from Miami as possible. Registrants who refuse to leave Miami and choose to live in tents don’t grasp this. They will be harassed until they are in prison for non-criminal conduct, in civil commitment or wise up and get out of dodge. I visited Derek in Tobias a few times. Tobias is out in the middle of nowhere. This is where everyone wants registrants and where registrants will be unless they stand up and fight.
Derek knows that 1% are out there making an effort to make changes. Their work is important and appreciated. The biggest task this movement faces is to get the 99% into the fight. Unless this happens, you will be seeing a lot more registrants moving to Tobias.
So true i am not one of register people but you have it lots of dump reason to put people on but guess what if they would do registery for all crimes including government official law enforcement then people might open eyes these officials are just for themselves espeacially now think they can do everything but yes need people to fight back
Derek is right on two points. Florida is an incredibly tough state in the courts and too many registrants are waiting for a messiah. Florida registrants can’t do much about the courts but if more registrants get off of the sidelines, you will see more results sooner.
“It’s an ambitious plan but Book hopes the entire homeless population can be vaccinated by early Summer.”
Did anyone think to ask him if that includes homeless registrants? Or if he’s screening for registrants when dolling out vaccines? Or which would he prefer, that homeless registrants die or live to continue being homeless and (presumably) miserable?
I’ve been on the registry for 24 years and I’m almost 50 years old. I’ve had to engage in contracting type manual labor as a self employed person now for almost 2O years in order to earn a steady and decent living.
In that time, I have:
1) Suffered a severe arm laceration and almost bled to death while working alone on an abandoned farm.
2) Broke my foot while moving a during an eviction. Thought it was initially a sprain. No health insurance and didn’t go to a Dr until forced to do so 2 YEARS LATER. Had a foot fusion surgery. Out of work 2 months.
3) I’ve suffered severe heat exhaustion on two occasions that had long lasting effects. Came very close to heat stroke.
4) Always have anxiety and some times panic attacks when on jobs out of fear for being on the registry.
4) My body itself is wearing out from all this hard work as I age.
Everything I have listed is an indirect result of me experiencing life long state sponsored character assassination by The State of Florida. And for the record, I have NEVER been convicted of a crime and have NEVER been to prison.
Douglas O, if you have ner been convicted of a crime, then why are you forced to register?
We (Florida) are blessed with the Book family. They live to make life harder for us.
Article written by Hallie Lieberman (NARSOL) about Janice Bellucci.
One day in 2011, Bellucci, a 67-year-old California attorney who spent most of her career in aerospace law, was talking to Frank Lindsay, a water treatment specialist who was fixing her home’s reverse osmosis system, when he mentioned that he had written a book. “Quite frankly,” she says, “reading his book changed my life.”
Bellucci found out that in 1979 Lindsay had committed a sex crime against a child under the age of 14, a crime for which he spent a year in jail, nearly all of it on weekends, thanks to a work furlough program. More than three decades later, he had not reoffended, but he was still subject to legal restrictions and potentially deadly threats. “A stranger broke into his home and tried to murder him because he was on the Megan’s Law website,” Bellucci says. “He escaped from his own house after being hit a couple times with a hammer. I just couldn’t believe that any group of people in our country today [was] being treated that way.”
On a sabbatical from her work at a California nonprofit, Bellucci couldn’t get the sex registry out of her mind. “This issue kept popping up, kind of like a jack-in-the-box,” she says. “And finally I sat down with myself, and I said, ‘Why did I go to law school?’ It was the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, and the character Atticus Finch. I’m like, ‘What would Atticus do?’” The answer seemed obvious to her.
Bellucci initially tried to interest the American Civil Liberties Union of California in the issue. “They basically said [they couldn’t help] because they’re afraid that if they became known as sex offender attorneys, their funding would disappear, which I think is a very cowardly position,” she says.
Bellucci’s children were adults, she was unmarried, and she decided she could “do anything I want to do.” So she founded the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offender Laws (ACSOL). To this day, a needlepoint of “What Would Atticus Do?” sits on her desk, next to a Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure.
Like many in the movement, Bellucci believes sex offender restrictions are unconstitutional. As a lawyer, she could do something about that, but she did not have a lot of resources. So she and the few early members of ACSOL decided to go after “low-hanging fruit”: Halloween-related restrictions in California.
In Simi Valley, Bellucci learned, sex offenders were required to post signs on their front doors during Halloween, alerting neighbors that they were on the registry and warning trick-or-treaters to stay away. She sued the city, arguing that the requirement was a form of compelled speech prohibited by the First Amendment. She won.
The Halloween signs are a good example of sex offender policies that have no basis in fact. A 2009 analysis of 67,000 sex crimes against children committed by people other than their relatives, reported in the journal Sexual Abuse, found “no increased rate on or just before Halloween.” The researchers concluded that “these findings raise questions about the wisdom of diverting law enforcement resources to attend to a problem that does not appear to exist.” . . . .
Bellucci wants the registry to be based on science and reason. But that’s hard to accomplish, she says, because when people “hear the term sex offenders, they just panic. They’re thinking of the worst sexual assault that you can ever think of.” It is therefore difficult for them “to absorb new information or to analyze the information that’s in their brain.”
To combat that emotional response, Bellucci assures people that “we believe all children should be safe. We’re not here to unleash a bunch of sexual predators on the public.” Her message, she says, is that “the registry gives people a false sense of security,” because “they’re looking in the wrong direction,” given that “more than 90 percent of the perpetrators are not on the registry.”
Bellucci is admired by other reformers because she didn’t join the movement to defend her brother or father or child; she did it because she saw an injustice. “The fact that she doesn’t have what we call ‘skin in the game’ [makes her] more amazing,” says Vicki Henry, president of Women Against the Registry (WAR).
So, it’s not punishment…when I was a kid and I did something wrong and my Mom called me into the house I knew I was going to be punished.
When I go in to report the truth to the registration police I get the same feeling that I got from standing in front of Mom….I have made mistakes and didn’t get punished , yet. That’s how I feel when I get to walk out of the Sheriff’s office….I feel lucky that I was able to walk away from there.
It does no good to defend with civility those to threaten out families with deadly force. The answer is clear choose your own path.
If Ron Book indeed believes this to be true, and he knows he is responsible for hundreds of homeless registrants in Miami, then he is liable for their decline in health due to gross negligence. Ron and his Trauma Queen daughter truly are monsters.
It sickens me knowing the Book Crime Family likely got their COVID shots while they watch Registered Persons die. Yet they keep getting away with it and no one holds them accountable.
Derek
Are you familiar with the phrase “Friends in high places”?
Or it is “Not what you know, but WHO you know” that counts?
The idea comes to mind that the Book family is “Connected” if you know what I mean. That is why (I am sure you already know this) when you or I get pulled over for a DUI, we go to jail. If the son of the police chief does the same thing, they sweep it under the rug, then burn and bury the rug.
My comparison is not that different than what the 1930s crime mobs use to do. They can make people and things “Go away”.
The Books and Barney Bishop are both lobbyists with big mouths and they know each other, and both have said outlandish things– Barney wants us in a room with victim’s families with scissors so we can be stabbed, while Ron Book wants to waterboard us.
Society seems it fit to allow these scumbags to say such terrible things yet we aren’t allowed to defend ourselves. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people telling me and others to show them respect and be nice to them. They dont have the same civility or decency.
My response to the Books and Bishop is a simple two word answer. First word starts with F and rhymes with duck. Second word is opposite of “on”.
We have again and again listed 100’s of requirements or restrictions that we have to follow. EVERYONE in the World from law enforcement, citizens, judges all know regardless if you call it punitive or punishment, that is exactly what it is.
It is one thing to have a mug shot public forever like almost all former offenders do. But none of them have to report again and again and again for life to update their addresses, emails, work places and too many other exhausting things to waste my time typing.
The constitution might as well be burned. The bill of rights might as well be buried. Illegal immigrants seem to have more rights than those on the registry.
“Illegal immigrants seem to have more rights than those on the registry.”
Ironically, they actually do. After 5 years, they can apply for citizenship and their stigma is somewhat diminished while we’re still denied hope with nothing to look forwards to. They’re not reverse engineered to be the boogeyman the way WE ARE. They’re just a sideshow around election time, but we’re the main attraction year-round.
Some illegal immigrants would accept registration status in exchange for citizenship.
It’s absurd to imagine that such a swap would be available. But we won’t win this battle by throwing other unpopular groups under the bus. I have not walked in the shoes of an illegal immigrant, and do not wish to.
As Guy Hamilton-Smith put it, the two populations that seem entirely out of reach of the Constitution and its protections, are illegal immigrants and registered sex offenders.
Unfortunately, this problem is not going away any time soon.
The Washington County Commission (Chipley, FL) passed a new ordinance yesterday (Feb 18), increasing the distance for how far a registrant needs to live from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet from a school, playground, park or other places where children regularly gather. Current registrants will be grandfathered in.
“Jackson and Calhoun counties have a similar ordinance. Washington County Sheriff, Kevin Crews, said their ordinances may have impacted the SO numbers in their county. ‘What’s happened to us, has actually pushed some of those people out of counties that they would have probably, normally, lived in before they’re pushing them into our country,’ Crews said.”
FAC cannot take on all of these legal challenges, but I hope the day comes when Florida gets a Janice Bellucci to start taking down one county at a time.l
Nothing against Janice but:
FloriDUH is a different political battleground than California. Liberal states are a little easier to rein in.
Janice has lost a few fights too. IML, for example. And the residency law issue was decided years ago so when Janice sues a city for their residency restriction ordinance, she’s simply getting them to remove the language from their municipal codes, but they aren’t being enforced because it was already declared unconstitutional.
Not knocking her, but too many folks in this movement lift her up on a pedestal. I’m more of a realist. It is a far tougher fight in the land of ‘Duh, so the fact I have a victory there at all is shocking.
Also, I think it is laziness when folks sit around waiting for some Messiah to swoop in and save us. We should all be doing our part. I do what I can even from podunk Nebraska. What’s everyone else’s excuse?
Next legislative meeting, I want to hear that a room full of Anti-Registry activists attended and testified. Stop waiting for a Janice to drop into your laps. The courts down there aren’t that helpful anyways.
There are a LOT of people in FAC doing a LOT of things behind the scenes that most people have no idea are happening.
In our monthly calls, I get a brief glimpse of what a small number of board members and others are doing behind the scenes and am always amazed.
Derek:
Thank you! I have said it here before. You cannot compare California and Florida. Completely two different political and social animals. Apples and Oranges. We have amazing and capable attorneys here that have accomplished the impossible at times,(including my own, who had my probation terminated successfully even against impossible odds) but Florida will not budge an inch when it comes to residency restrictions and the registry. If the registry and residency restrictions ceases to exist one day, Florida will be the last state to do so. Nothing against Janice either and she has done amazingly in California, but you can have a dream team of 10 Janice’s taking on Florida and she will lose even before she steps into the courts. It is by far one of the most corrupted, if not, the most corrupted state in the entire union at all levels of government. She can try and I will be there rooting for her of course, but I’m a realist as well.
AC
Florida has a history of bigotry and discrimintion. The Confederacy was strong here as well as the clan. A lot of the counties here (We have 67 counties) have Sheriffs that run sting operations was carte blanc posing as underaged and then posting those pictures on the news.
Years ago I saw a case where fake drugs were used in a sting. A court found that the arresttee could not be charged because when they finished the transaction, they did not actually buy drugs but flour (For cocain) or shiny rocks (For meth) etc.
So how come when a cop pretends to be an underage person you are charged with meeting an underage person? The answer is simple, the damn courts are hypocrites and are violating their own oaths by putting personal feelings ahead of justice.
None of us (hopefully) are saying sex crimes are ok. We are just asking for equal justice under the law. Which is our rights we are denied.
https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-news/washington-county-commission-passes-new-registered-sex-offender-ordinance/
And did you notice that it was the efforts of two NEIGHBORING counties, plus Florida home rule in general, that created the political situation in Washington County.
That’s a shame. The Panhandle (lower Alabama) has been the area of Florida that’s passed the least sex offender ordinances.
If you look at a sex offender ordinance map of Florida and compare it to a political map, there’s a pretty obvious, although weird, correlation where the more Democratic an area is, the more likely it is to have a sex offender ordinance.
Yeqax
Roughly 70% of the DOC prisons are in northern or panhandle of Florida. Running prisons shouldn’t be a money making industry. I was appalled when I learned how many prisons are in Florida.
Media
I just read it, thanks for sharing. The ONLY good thing I got out of the article is, they are obeying the law by not making it retro active.
“Crews said there are currently 88 registered sex offenders in Washington County but the new rule won’t apply to them as they’re grandfathered in.”
Media
I forgot to add. I do not remember where it was, but a while back a judge ordered somewhere that the excessive distance was illegal. This was due to the fact whatever city it was, was imposing the new restrictions, this new ordinance left NO place in the city limits to live that was more than 2500 feet from any of the listed no go zones.
Cruel and unusual. Want to make the argument in a way they’ll understand? Make a causal link between treatment and punishment. Cruel and unusual treatment is cruel and unusual punishment. It’s the same.
Ron Book is Satan and his spawn Lauren is assisting spreading his evil and hatred.
So says the man responsible for creating more homeless people on South Florida than anyone else in modern history.
There was an article on here one time that said that roughly half of South Florida’s homeless people are sex offenders.
Book is personally responsible for roughly doubling the number of homeless people in the county.