UPDATED with Public Hearing Date: Some Brevard County Talking Points
The Public Hearing on the Amendment to the Brevard County Ordinance is scheduled on the Agenda for Tuesday August 25th at 9am. Location is Brevard County Government Complex at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way Viera, FL 32940 in the Commission Chambers. Registered Citizens are not able to attend due to this same ordinance because the complex is located within 1000’ of a school.
If you are a family member or concerned citizen, and able to attend the meeting, we will be organizing a group to attend and to present at the public hearing. If you are a registered citizen or otherwise unable to attend, but wish to be heard, please write a letter to the commissioners and send copy to us. All correspondence, questions, plans to attend should be sent to [email protected] or call 407-782-6912.
We need your support to stop this amendment which will 1) change the definition of a park to include 1000’ around certain private properties and 2) add 1000’ around certain businesses as exclusion areas to the already 1000’ around schools, parks, playground and daycares. Read the Legislative text here for an explanation of the proposed changes.
- The Legislative Text states that “pharmacies” are NOT excluded, yet we have heard from members that they are told they cannot go to certain pharmacies. What has been your experience? Specifically what locations have you been told, by probation or Sheriff, you are NOT permitted to go due to the current ordinance, and how will this proposed addition of certain business impact you or your family? Let’s hear from you in comments below or email [email protected].
Brevard County currently has an ordinance that makes it illegal for registrants to enter into or remain within the 1000-foot buffer zone surrounding any school, daycare center, park or playground, with only a few exceptions given. Now Commissioner Tobia would like to add an amendment to that ordinance, whereby private businesses would be able to declare themselves the center of an exclusion zone, banning anyone registered as a sexual offender or predator from entering within a 1000-foot radius of the outermost boundary of their business.
Our concern is not just Brevard County. It is the domino effect that can lead other counties to pass such ordinances, as has happened in the past. We need as many people as possible to write these commissioners. Currently, there has been very little opposition within Brevard County, so the commissioners feel comfortable with passing it. If you are not a resident of Brevard County, you can still let the commissioners know of your concern as you do not want ordinances like this one spreading to your county. But Brevard County residents, you really need to speak up. Without you, we are all sunk.
These are the email addresses and phone numbers for the commissioners along with talking points for those who need some suggestions:
Rita Pritchett (Vice Chair), 321-607-6901: [email protected]
Bryan Lober (Chair), 321-454-6601: [email protected]
John Tobia, 321-633-2075: [email protected]
Curt Smith, 321-633-2044: [email protected]
Kristina Isnardi, 321-253-6611: [email protected]
- Tobia state that there is a high propensity to re-offend: Re-offense rate for committing another sex crime is in the single digits. There are numerous studies out there to support this fact, one being the May of 2019 U. S. Department of Justice Report on the Recidivism Rate over a 9-Year Period for Released Inmates Whose Most Serious Offense Was Rape/Sexual Assault being 7.7%.
- Commissioner Smith inquired as to what had happened to initiate such an amendment: Tobia had not a single case to give Smith. The 867 registrants in Brevard County are not re-offending.
- Unconstitutional: It would be applied retroactively against people whose offense was before the ordinance was passed.
- We already have Florida Statute 856.022: This statute prohibits anyone on the sex offense registry from loitering within 300 feet of where children congregate.
- This amendment is proposing 1000 feet away from the outermost boundary all around the property: One thousand feet is 3 and 1/3 football fields. The area of a circle with a radius of 1000 feet is 3,141,592 square feet. The radii on these circles would actually be longer than 1000 feet if taken from the center of the property, making the area even greater.
- There is no research to support exclusion/proximity/buffer zones: Ask the Brevard County commissioners to provide their research that shows the effectiveness of having these zones.
- Enforcement/compliance would be impossible: How do you know if you are 900 ft or 1050 ft from the outermost boundary? Will a map be provided to help registrants and law enforcement?
- This amendment will keep law-abiding registrants from meeting the constitutional basic needs provided to all citizens of this country: attending government meetings; visiting banks, businesses, restaurants, and in family/friends’ homes that they have been doing for years without incident.
- Lober wants the amendment to apply to those labeled as a predator: What about those labeled as a “predator” who are law-abiding citizens now? Released murderers, gang leaders, and armed robbers who re-offend are given the right to live and be physically present anywhere in Brevard County. Mr. Lober stated that “predators” are registrants who have two or more second degree felonies or have committed a first degree felony. In the statute on predators, it defines a predator as “repeat sexual offenders, sexual offenders who use physical violence, and sexual offenders who prey on children.” In Florida, the term is used for anyone where the victim is under 12 years old. Florida does not differentiate between “over the cloth” and “under the cloth”, as some states do. All one has to do is touch a child under the age of 12 over the cloth on the breast, buttock, or between the legs momentarily, and the prosecutor has the choice to classify the accused as a predator. Florida does not use risk assessments, so everyone is put in the same box. There are many people labeled as a predator who are leading law-abiding lives and are not a threat to anyone. What Mr. Lober is really requesting is a risk assessment which he will unfortunately not get in Florida.
- Tobia stated that anyone violating this new amendment could not only face jail time of up to 60 days but also a possible fine of up to $500 and be subject to consideration for incarceration if there are other violations: Why is Mr. Tobia looking for more ways to incarcerate people who are now law-abiding citizens?
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I was OK with the proceedings until Isnardi made the comment that those on the registry are ‘sexual deviants’. At that point she displayed how ignorant she is on the subject. I had to send her an email on it. I doubt I will get a response as most politicians I find to be ‘gutless’ when called on the carpet about justifying with facts their comments. I info’ed the other commissioners. As with the current ordinance, as far as I am concerned with the amendment they can place it where the sun don’t shine.
Today, the amendment to the proximity ordinance was approved, 4 to 1 (Chairman Lober was the one to vote against it). The oaf Tobia was super unprofessional and childish with his comments. Commissioners Pritchett and Isnardi (especially Isnardi) showed simple-minded righteousness as well. I’m going to keep in touch with Brevard businesses that are on the new registry and those that are just nearby those businesses (since their businesses will be patronized less because they are within about 1000 ft of the registered business) to let them know how often they are not getting my money.
You can pull up video of today’s meeting and start watching at 1 hour 59 minutes, for just over an hour. This time frame includes public comment and then comments from commissioners and their votes. It’s at: http://brevardfl.granicus.com/player/clip/107?view_id=1&redirect=true
That’s terrible news, RayO. Thanks for the important update.
They just keep on adding more and more “distance” rules. I still can’t wrap my head around how to find a decent place to live with the 2500 foot rule. I have a 4 and 6 year old and we’ve been to the Brevard Zoo a few times over the years. I’d really hate for them to take away going to the zoo. There are so few things I can do with my children as it is. 7 years ago I was forever kicked out of Disney World which isn’t the worst thing except it was on Christmas Eve while I was on my honeymoon. It’s just another thing I can’t do with my family. It’s been 22 years since I got in trouble. How long are they going to add more and more stringent rules and say it’s not a form of punishment?
JD, just a word of caution: On one of our previous Monday night Brevard calls, one Brevard resident stated that law enforcement sometimes drives through the Brevard zoo checking license plates for registrants. You might want to check this out, though, with someone more knowledgeable about Brevard than I am.
I feel for you. It is all so unfair — something I never thought, when I was younger, could happen in the United States of America. But this is why we are banding together to fight these injustices.
It’s all just such a huge pile of nonsense. It is stupid security illusion designed for stupid, hateful “people”. That is literally all that it is. Just a bunch of dumba**es harassing families just because they can.
When I take my children and/or grandchildren to a zoo or anywhere else, I never, ever, ever assume that nanny big government has been doing anything useful, in any way, to keep dangerous people away from us. I wouldn’t in 1,000 years even fantasize that their Registry Hit Lists were doing anything to protect us. So, I’m not going to support their brainless harassing of families listed on their Hit Lists. All they are doing is pissing those people off and making them more dangerous. That’s it.
Nope, I’ll protect my family without the “help” of big government and their dipsh*t Lists.
I do believe that the law enforcement criminals (LECs) drive around looking for People Forced to Register so they can harass them. Where I live, they’ve bragged about that on many occasions. Usually when they are trying to fleece more money from taxpayers. They will tell them they need more resources to protect them from “sex offenders”.
Where I live, they have Automatic License Plate Readers and it is very easy for the LECs to drive anywhere and it will scan and check every single plate that is visible. It can do that even when driving down an interstate. So you should always assume that LECs see any Registered vehicle and might want to target its occupants for harassment. Always.
I’ve always Registered a lot of cars just because. I drive a number of cars and my children drive them and others. I expect that the LECs have wasted tons of resources looking around in parks, etc. for me when I wasn’t there. I fully expect that. But they’ve never once talked to me at such a location. They did come to my home once to ask me about one of my cars that was in a different state for a long time. I wasn’t nice to them and of course didn’t tell them anything.
But I’d like to reassure the geniuses who think this security illusion is useful – if I ever go to a zoo or anywhere else to do anything nefarious, I promise that I’ll never drive a Registered car there or ever worry about any “presence” bans. So you could tell your big governments to stop wasting resources on dumb, useless “laws” and messing with them.
” It’s been 22 years since I got in trouble. How long are they going to add more and more stringent rules and say it’s not a form of punishment? ”
For as long as it looks tough on crime and keeps the votes coming in.
These exclusion zone proposals are nothing more than political acts by bureaucrats who realize they have done nothing during their current term and with elections coming up they have to do something…anything. Thus exclusions zones.
I want to restate that I’m sure the timing of this ridiculous amendment has everything to do with re-election. Note, the 3 commissioners who have made it clear that they’re ready to vote ‘yes’ on it, without modifications, are the ONLY 3 Brevard commissioners who are up for reelection. So, there’s a slim chance this idea will magically disappear after the November election. On another note, I would hate one day to read that a truly dangerous, ‘career’ predator used Brevard’s registry of businesses to shop for victims.
If someone had the resources (a lawyer), they should challenge the ban on being present at the county commission meeting as a violation of the 1st amendment right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances”.
That’s in the works, Howard