Even if these bills should pass, neither bill will be applied retroactively. I just read the bills.

rewdiazepam

Oh please no - I can't take it

If they do get passed then every single area should lose living restrictions etc.

There will come a time when they reach a breaking point that they can no longer afford the fight. More and more people are getting added to the registry needing more resources that will eventually run out......

Advocate, my old friend, I checked on the possibility of the retroactivity of the bill as soon as I posted it.

I knew you would have a coronary and be worried, so I already checked for you. You can breathe easier now. ha ha

Kinda funny, but tragic also that registrants have to live in total fear hoping that more retroactive laws do not get passed at the next legislative session which will make their lives even more miserable.

rewdiazepam

I'm so glad we're not in Floriduh anymore..

i wonder if there will come a time when someone, in power, stops to think for a minute and realizes that these laws are not just harming but destroying many innocent lives?

I know REW and I appreciate that but this is completely insane! How can any politician think that they can confine someone like this for the rest of their lives - it is so reminiscent of other oppressive things that have happened in the World (in history) how can they even consider such a thing - it just boggles the mind

Lifetime GPS in SC was ruled unconstitutional I think last year....

@ FreetoBreathe, I agree with what you said, but I and others who have been in this fight for years have been saying the same thing since 2006. I figured the registry would collapse from its own weight a few years ago, but it is just perking along. It does not help that now they can charge the registrant to help defray the cost of the registry.

@Nak, I don't know how many hard decisions you have had to make in your life, but the decision you made to get you and your son out of Florida is one of the best decisions you have ever made. I sincerely wish your son well and if you ever need me, message me. I care about your son and you also.

@Echo, you asked if there will ever be a day when someone in power realizes that they are destroying innocent lives with all these rules? In short, no. They believe that they are doing what the general public wants by being tough on sex offenders and it is a sure ticket to get re-elected year after year by appearing tough on crime, so why would they stop? These politicians are not humanitarians and the only number they care about is 51%, which is what it takes to get them re-elected at election time.

@Advocate, of course such laws are insane. This is pretty insane even for Florida, but this won't be the last ridiculous law we see them pass down there. I am convinced that they are keeping their promise when they vowed a scorched earth policy against registrants.

rewdiazepam

I am starting to think that people down in Florida have finally lost it. My god down there its sex offender this sex offender that seems to me that they just can not get enough of sex offenders!

Rew: I agree that there are constitutional issues with this legislation. Since there are almost identical bills in both houses, I believe there is a significant desire to make this happen. If this needed to move from one house to the next before going to the governor, I would rest a little easier.

Again, this is Floriduh. First make many SO's homeless, then have them pay to be monitored. It's a play on perception, as a quick read of the article comes across that the SO's are homeless because they are SO's, not because of changes in FL law forced many to be homeless or to chose being homeless because they have no other options.

Oh Firecracker - you have no idea! everyday I see at least one or two news stories that I think to myself there is another name that will be on the registry - I get worn out with it all. They also treat everything as suspicious - I posted a news story a while ago about how the cops were looking for a particular person driving a particular car becasue he stopped and asked a school girl if she needed a ride to school. Now, as I said when I posted it - was he up to no good? Maybe but he he did not do anything to her at all! He did not try to grab her or follow her or anything - last time I looked it was not against the law to offer someone a ride. It is always possible that he was just trying to be nice - I mean come on! Now they are searching for some guy that jumped out of the bushes and scared a bunch of kids - that is all - he did not chase them or follow them, or grab them. Weirdo? Maybe - but so what????? I notice the media seems to have dropped that story so perhaps the cops just found out he was an old guy and the noisy kids were driving him crazy! lol I notice in my neighborhood kids go in other people yards and play etc. I ask them to leave at least once a week. When my kids were young I would never have allowed them to go to neighbors yards and play and scream and holler - not becasue I was afraid for their safety but becasue they might bother the neighbors!

When I was growing up, the neighbor kids would always cut through our yard as a short-cut to the closest soda machine. My mom had two rules, the kids had to ask permission the first time, and they couldn't mess with stuff. Most kids respected her, but a couple didn't and she would go flying out of the house if she caught them. Nowadays she'd probably be in trouble.

I doubt the bill will pass but only because the state does not want to spend the amount of money it would take to implement this program. The one common thread in all other bills passed under their so-called "scorched earth policy" is that all the bills they passed were of nominal cost. GPS, however, is very expensive.

Despite being a bill targeting "sexual predators" the law as introduced applies to all RSOs. I coubt most can pony up the $350 monthly fee so the jails will be filled with registrants. Plus more manpower will have to be used for monitoring.