Weekly Update #102
Dear Members and Advocates,
This past month we lost the last of the “Big Six”, when Representative John Lewis died. The Big Six were leaders of six civil rights organizations who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. In learning more about the life of John Lewis and the assembling of the Civil Rights Movement, I was struck by the similarities it has to our movement and inspired to motivate our members to take a more active role in speaking out.
Monday night, when we had a subcommittee call on the Brevard Ordinance, some of the participants mentioned that many of the registrants in Brevard are afraid to speak up. Afraid that the city commissioners, probation and police will punish their constitutional right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances or even voice opposition to an ordinance, by passing harsher laws or take retaliatory treatment such as more frequent “address verifications”. They are so terrified that they are even too scared to sign their name to a letter voicing opposition to the proposed ordinance.
Folks, we can’t live like this!
Over the course of the Civil Rights Movement, tens of thousands of African American people showed up to non-violent protests, boycotts and sit ins. All at the risk of facing arrest, violence… or worse. But they showed up! Along the way they found allies where they least expected it. The “Big Six” would eventually become the “Big Ten” when four white men, heads of unions and religious leaders, stood up alongside them. In the end, the Civil Rights Movement had some incredible achievements, earning men and women rights that have long been deprived and ending many discriminatory laws. But how those achievements came about was through individuals showing up and speaking out.
We know standing up can be an intimidating thing, but if you can’t show up to speak out for yourself you cannot expect others to speak out for you. We are not expecting you to come to a county commission meeting in an exclusion zone and risk arrest, but we do ask you to contact your commissioner and express your desire to exercise your first amendment right to be there. We are not expecting you to stage a sit in, protest or march down the streets of Brevard with a sign, but we do ask that you send a letter to your commissioner or sign your name to a petition (and solicit your family and friends to do the same) opposing the ordinance. We don’t expect you to follow in the footsteps of John Lewis and get elected to the US House of Representatives, but we do ask that you help us help you. It’s time to be brave!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
Reminders:
Aug 6 – Thursday 7pm – EARLY START for special Member Call. Dial 319-527-3487. Guest Melba Pearson has been invited to meet our members and share her position on justice reform. Melba is running for State Attorney in the Miami district. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 319-527-3487. You will receive a call-back and be connected to the conference.
Aug 6 – Thursday 8pm – Regular Monthly Member Call. Dial 319-527-3487. Guest Shelly Kavanagh will discuss her research on “Mothers of Registered Citizens” and other concerns for the loved ones. Shelley also facilitates the monthly Family Support sessions with Dr Jill Levenson. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 319-527-3487. You will receive a call-back and be connected to the conference.
Aug 8 – Saturday from 11am-1pm ET. Family Support Session via Zoom (non-registrants only). Intended for family members and others with loved ones on the Registry. Must be FAC member and RSVP to [email protected] to receive Zoom link.
Aug 10 – Monday at 7pm ET – Next BREVARD Strategic Planning Meeting. Dial 319-527-3487. Status and discussion of action items to stop proposed amendment. You do not need to live in Brevard to join this call. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 319-527-3487 to receive a call-back and be connected to the conference.
Aug 11- Tuesday at 2:00 pm ET is the last session of the FAMM and Florida Cares Summer Camp taught by Greg and Denise aimed at teaching families and directly impacted folks about the legislative process, bills, candidates and about criminal justice reform in Florida so that everyone can be make the most educated and informed decisions in 2020 regarding their incarcerated loved one and advocate for them in the best way possible. IMPORTANT: You must register for each class and classes are limited so sign up TODAY! ⇢ Link to register for the FAMM & Florida Cares Summer Camp Classes After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Aug 11- Tuesday at 7:00 pm ET or Aug 19- Wednesday at 7:00 pm ET – Choose one date – For current County Coordinators and members who want to become a County Coordinator for FAC. Only required to attend one of these sessions per month. Dial 605-472-5596 Access 436675#. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 605-472-5596. You will receive a call-back, enter access code 436675# and be connected to the training meeting.
Aug 13 Thursday at 8pm ET- FAC New Member Orientation Call. Dial 319-527-3487. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 319-527-3487. You will receive a call-back and be connected to the conference.
Aug 20 Thursday at 7pm ET – Clay County members call 605-472-5682 Access 662073#. Talk with your County Coordinator about local issues and concerns. If unable to connect, text “Call Me” to 605-472-5682 . You will receive a call-back, enter access code 662073# and be connected to the conference.
Aug 27 Thursday. Polk County members will meet their County Coordinator team at IHOP to discuss local issues and concerns. Leave message at 407-814-4203 to receive details.
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
MI: Man wrongly imprisoned for FTR can’t sue state
The Michigan Supreme Court has stopped a man from suing the state after he spent more than a year in prison for a crime that wasn’t a crime. The man was behind bars for 17 months for failing to provide accurate information for Michigan’s sex offender registry. The…
Colorado board that writes rules for management of sex offenders rife with conflicts, state audit finds
Members of a state board that writes the rules for how Colorado sex offenders are supervised voted on policy revisions that benefited their firms, which held state contracts worth millions of dollars annually, according to a scathing performance audit the state…
Stetson University Researcher Says Porn Does Not Cause Violent Sex Crimes
“During the past few years, many states have declared that pornography is a public health crisis,” said Ferguson. “Dr. Hartley and I were curious to see if evidence could support such claims, at least in regard to sexual aggression, or whether politicians were…
Did anyone else hear the reason that Tobia gave for introducing this legislation?
If not, rewatch the video. (Go back and re-watch it!!)
He said that the reason that he brought this legislation forward is because someone on the registry had the temerity to contact him too many times begging him for some relief from these laws.
So Tobia took it upon himself to introduce new legislation in order to further torture and humiliate this person (and all others on the registry in Duval) even further.
He decided to give a large glass of water to a drowning man!
I have nothing but contempt for him and the woman on the right right of the dais who wholeheartedly (and cruelly) agreed!
(There were 2 others who dared to speak up – one even pressed his point a bit. But he still cowardly backed down.)
In my opinion, these laws must become so horrible, cruel and senseless that even the most hardened and cruel haters are questioning them as extreme. (This is already starting to happen – see?)
It is like a poison-filled carbuncle that must grow and grow until it is unbearable! Then the putrid boil must be lanced!
These people have revenge and hatred as their only motives. They are insane with their hatred, and one doesn’t reason with the insane – it is pointless.
One reason’s with the voices of sanity in the room, and one hopes that they have the courage to speak over the insanity of the torturers.
I completely agree. Anyone who is informed about the Registries and still supports them is a sick person.
I have no idea why people care about being nice to people like John Tobia. Or respect such a person. There is nothing worse than people faking their feelings. That doesn’t mean you have to yell at the idiot or cannot present the facts in a calm, intelligent way. But there is no need to pretend like these people are acceptable, human, or deserve respect. They are enemies of all good Americans. The goal should be to marginalize and harm them as much as possible. In their official and personal lives. That is what should be done to insane harassers.
I sympathize with comparisons to the civil rights movement. But such comparisons don’t work. Whenever I am trying to educate members of the public on how broken registries are, if I bring up civil rights (or Nazis), they usually stop listening and change the subject.
And understandably so. Because registries deal with something the civil rights movement does not: the presumption that the registrant made the choice to harm someone sexually. Unlike Jim Crow laws or Nazi anti-semitism, which targeted people SOLELY for the race they were born into, taking no life choices into account.
If we are to persuade people to reform or abolish registries, then we have a harder question to answer than the civil rights movement did. Namely, what do we want to happen to people who have been found guilty of committing a crime that disgusts us?
Even if you disagree with me— if you believe that, yes, fighting registries is a new civil rights movement— how will we persuade members of the public who mostly hold the mindset I outlined above? How many more families need to be sucked into this system in order for the public to change their viewpoint?
Jacob, you are right. I also get offended when the nazi comparison is made. We have it horrible, but there are no gas chambers here.
The goal of this weekly update was to encourage people be brave. The protesters in the 60’s were arrested and beaten, yet they still showed up to the fight. If someone would risk lynching for their cause, people should not be afraid to put their name on a letter to their commissioner.
It’s useless to write to us. We need big numbers writing to their commissioners and speaking out. There are nearly 900 registrants in Brevard County. We should have hundreds of them write it. If the commissioners see that only a dozen complain, they might say, “yeah, this impacts people but only a handful of people complained about it so it must not be such a big deal.”
I am sick and tired of the use of the word “offended”. We all need to put on our ‘big boy’ or ‘big girl’ pants and get over being offended. Let everyone express themselves as they feel and forget about being politically correct or offended. Those two words are destroying this nation .
We can agree that everyone has the right to express themselves as they feel and everyone has the right to have an emotional response to what’s said or written.
These times have created an air of divisiveness. Some people look at a statute of George Washington and see it as a monument of our nations history (for better or worse) and some see it as tribute to someone that enslaved others. I’m not going to discourage either person’s feelings or opinions. In fact, (within boundaries) I’m going to encourage the expression of these feelings or opinions. By creating a forum where people with differing opinions can come to the virtual table and start a dialogue, we are accomplishing something.
The message in this week’s update was misinterpreted by some. The intent was to motivate readers to be brave enough to express their feelings or opinions because if only one side of the conversation shows up to be heard, we will never be successful in blocking this proposed amendment.
As far as the reply to Jacob, I acknowledged his point of view, agreed with him, gave a personal example to let him know that I get it and tried to make my point as well (that this is about being brave). I think that exchange is the perfect illustration of a forum where people can come together to express their opinions, hear others’ opinions and hopefully influence others to do (or not do) something. It’s exactly the reason why it’s so important we regain our rights to be present at the public meeting of the county commissioners in Brevard.
Keep in mind that the Nazi’s did not start with the gas chambers.
Exactly right. It started very similarly to what has happened with the Jews and unwanted populace, as it has over the years with SO’s laws.
First they prejudiced the populace against jews and the
unwanteds by publishing and airing propaganda full of lies and exaggerations as they do today. Then they made them register the entire family. Then they did not allow them to run for office, teach, hold office, vote, teach, have professional certifications, etc.
Then they decided where they could and could not live. The next step was to destroy their businesses and turn the public against them in every way possible.
After that they ran sham trials and put the most outspoken and undesirable in internment camps for anti government and “reeducation”.
Next they placed them all in walled off slums in the worst parts of the cities and their travel and work was restricted and many other restrictions followed.
I believe that is about the situation SO’s find themselves in currently. All of the same series of restrictions and punishments can be found in todays laws and restrictions. We even have the “civil commitment” sites (jails) where people are locked up for crimes they may commit in the future with no trial or sentencing time or ending.
The only next step was that they were rounded up and sent to concentration camps to work as slave labor and the young, sick and old were cremated in the gas chambers.
How many times have you read in the comments section after an article about any SO concern have you seen the publics wish for all SO’s to be killed, castrated (also done to jews and unwanteds) or shipped off to a deserted island?
Doesn’t sound so “offensive” or so different to me….
Nazis started out doing all of these awful things. But so did other tyrannical regimes, without resorting to the one thing that Nazis did that made them distinctive in history and that shocked the world, barely even mentioned above.
Most people recognize that the FDLE is not going to round up registrants’ families for summary execution. THAT would be more analogous to Naziism. And that’s why, when we invoke Naziism in discussing registries with legislators and the public, they stop taking us seriously. Not because they’re offended, or because they’re politically correct. But because it’s an analogy that doesn’t work.
Calling the authorities Nazis is an understandable way to vent (I’m tempted to do that myself), but it undermines our abilIty to persuade the public.
It’s easy for us to stand against mass extermination of ethnic groups. But it’s more work to educate the public about what these registries are, what they aren’t, and what’s the right way to for society to deal with someone who may have a poor life choice in their past. Let’s keep working on our message.
Could it be that they just haven’t yet gotten around to rounding up registered citizens. Let’s face it, most of these politicians are not going to do anything to return justice to registered citizens unless they themselves get the ‘nazi’ or similar moniker to stick. Some can treat them with ‘sugar and spice’ while others can use ‘vinegar’. I know I do not plan to leave this world without them knowing just how detestable they are.
Enough with the Nazi analogy! I’m putting an end to this derailment.
Jed, you are right on. I have studied history of that era and it was not only Jews who were separated out but gays, gypsies, and the mentally ill. I believe that the term “Nazi” is a perfectly logical term to describe what is happening today. We have to quit hiding our heads in the sand afraid of offending someone. If the truth offends, then so be it.
I have been comparing these civil rights abuses to the American movement for racial justice as well as the anti-Semitic discrimination that took place in Europe in the middle of the 20th century.
People often tell me to get off my soap box, but I will not. Abridging the civil rights of a small (hated) underclass is nothing new.
This mob-rule populism is one of the poisonous seeds of fascism.
I spoke up to all 5 commissioners. They don’t like me, and I am glad of that.
It must come to a head, like a malignant boil, and then be lanced! (The hard way, if necessary)
I admire those who get up on a soapbox for unpopular yet righteous causes. But from a practical perspective, why make the entire commission dislike you? What’s the endgame?
I am starting to hear the stories of those who got the commissioners to sympathize and listen to their stories, and that strikes me as the way to go here.
Agreed 1000%
Speak the truth. Even if your voice shakes.