This Truth is Self-Evident: Lawmakers Lie to Parents about Sex
Offender Registry Effectiveness
Florida House Bill 91 frightens me. And so does Florida
Representative Susan K. Goldstein R-Weston, Florida-District 97.
Why? Because this bill continued to be crafted and drafted by
elected bill sponsors, including Representative Susan Goldstein,
who have been provided the most current research and statistics
regarding sexual offenders/sexual predators and chose to ignore
the facts. Ms. Goldstein and other Florida lawmakers like her
know full well the difference between the distinction of sexual
offender and sexual predator. Ms. Goldstein recently stood
before the October 2005 House Judiciary Workshop regarding this
very issue and only under pressure from the Committee, did she
fully admit her awareness that offenders and predators were very
different designations. Yet, the Criminal Justice Committee
recently unanimously approved a bill to tighten a state law
limiting the places where offenders and predators can live.
We can better protect the public and especially children from
sexual abuse and assault. It requires a hard look at where
Florida's public policy is lacking, specifically the development
and implementation of a tier level/risk assessment system. A
tier system would allow quality monitoring by law enforcement of
those 2% of the 37,000 "offenders" deemed extremely dangerous to
our children. If the tier level system had been in place one
year ago, it is quite probable that John Couey would have never
met Jessica Lunsford-because he (as a career criminal) would
have been better monitored by law enforcement as a high level
offender. Implementation of a tier system would reveal those
predators who are a danger to our children, those who currently
hide behind so-called offenders who have been convicted for
victimless "crimes" such as public urination, consensual teenage
sex, or have chatted online with an undercover officer.
But rather than speak the truth and be proactive, Florida
Representatives such as Susan Goldstein have decided to use fear
and hysteria to continue to perpetuate a myth-that residency
buffer zones are paramount protection for our children. Although
research indicates this as not only untrue but ineffective, Ms.
Goldstein and others lawmakers like her, would rather banish
offenders and their non-offending family members under the guise
of protecting the general public. This action indeed uses the
offender registry in a punitive manner which directly violates
the intent of the registry-to inform the public of who is living
in their neighborhoods.
Most offenders are persons who have made stupid choices and will
never and have never, demonstrated predatorial behavior towards
children. The entire Florida registry system creates huge
numbers of persons registered in order to continue to receive
federal funding as automatic registration regardless of judicial
discretion is required under Florida Statute 943.0436. The "net"
has been cast too wide regarding the definition of offender and
law enforcement, as indicated by statements to the House
Criminal Justice Committee by Public Defender Bob Dillinger of
Clearwater, will agree to that statement. (Mr. Dillinger
indicated a better way to keep tabs on sexual predators is
through monitoring as required by the Jessica Lunsford Act
rather than burden police with trying to determine how far their
homes are from schools and other places named in the HB 91).
The Florida Sex Offender Registry, as currently designed, simply
does not work. Residency buffer zones banish entire families.
The residency buffer zones are an enforcement nightmare in Iowa.
Police officers spend valuable time measuring 2500 feet
distances and removing persons from their homes, separating
people from their families. Is this how the Florida Legislature
plans to use our law enforcement? Does the Florida Legislature
want to be known for the break up of families? Or does the
Florida Legislature only work for certain families and certain
children?
SOhopeful International is working with families, citizens and
professionals to change the way Megan's Law and similar
legislation mandates the registration, tracking and community
notification of non-violent, low risk sex offenders. We are
making this effort in order to strengthen the Sex Offender
Registry (SOR) and make it more effective, to help it to
accomplish what it was originally intended to do.
SOhopeful International has worked closely with Senator Orrin
Hatch and coordinated with Senator Patrick Leahy, both on the
Senate Judiciary Committee on Senate Bill 1086 "Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act." We are very proud of the
bill, and that many of the very positive and productive,
common-sense recommendations that we made were inserted into the
bill. Ms. Goldstein was provided these same recommendations
provided the U.S. Senators, who included recommendations
regarding a tier level system within three days of review of
this information as part of Senate Bill 1086. Also, incentive
federal funds would be provided states to implement tier level
systems as part of the registry configuration.
We need to have the political will to end the "feel-good" and
"knee-jerk" victim-named laws that are doing precious little to
actually protect anyone. It's time to be proactive about the
entire offender issue. As the general public becomes more and
more educated about the scheme the offender registry has become,
as the method the State implements to label a person an offender
becomes common knowledge to everyday citizens, as parents across
the United States want to know what more can be done by law
enforcement to better protect their children from PREDATORS, the
quick, sound bite cry of residency buffer zones will fall on the
ears of those now informed.