Weekly Update #28
Dear Members and Advocates,
This past weekend, the Florida Action Committee held our annual face-to-face Board of Directors meeting. Members of our board traveled from across Florida to spend most of the day together Saturday, strategizing and planning. While it’s always wonderful to sit down, in person, with the people you work so closely with, it was incredible to find that after so many years and so many trials and tribulations during that time, we are more energized and enthusiastic about FAC and our cause than ever!
In person meetings are also a good way to receive information and support from others who are in the same boat as you are. We plan regular “meet and greets” for our members in different Counties across Florida. For some, it’s a social event to provide members access to a community so they don’t feel so isolated. For others who want to get involved but are not sure how, or for those who prefer working on a group project, coordinating advocacy campaigns (such as writing to legislators and the media, envelope stuffing, etc.) these can be done at the meet and greets. If you would like to help organize a meet and greet in your area or get involved with FAC’s efforts on a more local level, please contact [email protected].
Yesterday the ACLU and Legal Services of Greater Miami, who represent the John Doe plaintiffs living homeless in Miami-Dade County because the Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORRs) restrict their housing options so drastically, filed their Appellate Brief in the Appeal of that challenge. A copy of the brief can be READ HERE. In other legal news, another person has been removed from the Florida registry after petitioning for relief under 943.0435(11), which provides that a person can petition the circuit court for removal if they have been arrest free for at least 20 years (now 25) since being released from all sanction relating to their offense. Attorney Ron Kleiner, who represented the now former registrant, argued that the legislature provided this relief for individuals who earned it and the petitioner did earn it. At least there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
SOME HEADLINES FROM THE WEEK
Video Evidence Is Thrown Out in Massage Parlor Case
Florida law enforcement was handed an appropriate slap on the wrist when video evidence of their much-hyped “human trafficking” massage parlor stings was thrown out. Yesterday, Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser ruled that prosecutors cannot use surveillance video…
Florida Appellate Court says Sexual Predator Designation Cannot be Made AFTER Sentence is Completed
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals reversed an order designating a man as a “sexual predator” after he had completed his sentence. The Appeals court found that the lower court lacked jurisdiction over the individual to enter the order. The case is McKenzie v….
Vice: A Government Database for People Who Pay for Sex Is a Terrible, Dangerous Idea
A set of bills passed the Florida House and Senate earlier this month that would build a database of people convicted for soliciting sex, and which sex workers and advocates say will ruin lives and put them at more risk. Senate Bill 540 and House Bill 851, when signed…
The rise of fear-based social media
Violent crime in the US is at its lowest rate in decades. But you wouldn’t know that from a crop of increasingly popular social media apps that are forming around crime. Apps like Nextdoor, Citizen, and Amazon Ring’s Neighbors — all of which allow users to view local…
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