Families of SOs Community Group
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12-17-2014 Florida:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Thatcher Gates is no stranger to the inside of a Duval County courtroom. The 37-year-old violent sexual predator has faced charges over the past decade of forcible sodomy, false imprisonment, robbery, rape, and impersonating a police officer.
But when Gates showed up to court last Thursday, he was the very first offender ensnared by tough new laws for sex offenders. And he may never walk free again.
The Florida legislature began a massive overhaul of state sex predator laws this year, prompted in part by the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Periwinkle from a Jacksonville Wal Mart, and in part by a damning series by the Sun-Sentinel that showed hundreds of new crimes committed by previously convicted sex offenders.
Lawmakers said they wanted to make Florida "Scorched Earth" for offenders, and the changes they approved greatly expanded the authority of law enforcement under the state's Jimmy Ryce Act. That law, named for a South Florida boy raped and murdered in 1995, allows the state to permanently detain inmates whom officials believe might re-offend at some time in the future. Because the law anticipates future behavior, rather than past crimes, it is opposed by civil libertarians, but has thus far survived legal challenges.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Thatcher Gates is no stranger to the inside of a Duval County courtroom. The 37-year-old violent sexual predator has faced charges over the past decade of forcible sodomy, false imprisonment, robbery, rape, and impersonating a police officer.
But when Gates showed up to court last Thursday, he was the very first offender ensnared by tough new laws for sex offenders. And he may never walk free again.
The Florida legislature began a massive overhaul of state sex predator laws this year, prompted in part by the abduction and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Periwinkle from a Jacksonville Wal Mart, and in part by a damning series by the Sun-Sentinel that showed hundreds of new crimes committed by previously convicted sex offenders.
Lawmakers said they wanted to make Florida "Scorched Earth" for offenders, and the changes they approved greatly expanded the authority of law enforcement under the state's Jimmy Ryce Act. That law, named for a South Florida boy raped and murdered in 1995, allows the state to permanently detain inmates whom officials believe might re-offend at some time in the future. Because the law anticipates future behavior, rather than past crimes, it is opposed by civil libertarians, but has thus far survived legal challenges.
based on the possibility of you, me or someone breaking the law in the future? hell, we'd all be in prison except 1 person. unless of course they were willing to arrest, charge, convict and lock themselves up???
florida is going to end up nothing but inmates. a whole state of nothing but inmates and politicians. damn it!
Maybe they should give every newborn baby a DOC number at birth so it would save them the trouble later.
rewdiazepam
I'm so glad I made that decision to move. And I want to thank those in this forum who were there answering some of my questions and giving support. This group really helped me out.
People don't know their options tho. People get stuck in hellholes like Floriduh.
FL will find like WI and MN that civil commitment does not work all that well either, the controversy that has been going on are a testament to the fact that these programs don't work all that well either.