FL Residency Requirements Keep Registered Sex Offenders Out In the Cold
Under Florida law, a convicted sex offender is required to submit information and updates to the Florida registry of sex offenders and abide by rigid residency rules.

November 18, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- FL Residency Requirements Keep Registered Sex Offenders Out In the Cold

Article provided by Clyde M. Taylor Jr.
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Anyone with a computer connection will be able to look you up and see what you did. They'll be able to see what you look like. They will be able to see your height, weight and age ? as well as any physical marks that distinguish you.

Under Florida's sex offender laws, every person convicted of a sexual crime is required to regularly submit information and updates to state law enforcement and the Florida registry of sex offenders. This information is then housed online at the Florida Sex Offenders and Predators Web site.

Here, you can find all of the above information, and more, on any individual convicted of "committing, or attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit the proscribed criminal offenses."

These offenses range from the assault of a minor to the case of an 18-year-old engaging in intercourse with his 16-year-old girlfriend. When it comes to Florida law, the registry is static. It doesn't matter what you were convicted of, you are subject to the same restrictions.

Residency Restrictions for Sex Offenders

Florida is not lax when it comes to residency restrictions. Under state law, registered sex offenders are not allowed to live closer than 1000 feet from any place where children congregate. This includes schools, daycare centers, parks and playgrounds.

However, local governments currently have the power to enact harsher restrictions if they so choose. Well over 100 local governments have, including Miami-Dade County, which imposes a 2500 ft ban on sexual offenders.

In Miami, it's so bad that an entire colony of registered sex offenders has sprung up under a bridge in the city ? the only option residency restrictions have left them.

Convicted criminals are released from prison when authorities believe that they have paid their debt to society and are ready to rejoin it. However, after being released? maybe for the rest of their lives, registered sex offenders may look at it differently.

While not discriminated against by law enforcement, it is almost a certainty that past offenders will not be able to reenter society with ease. Residency restrictions don't do much to prevent this seclusion. Instead, especially in places like Miami, these restrictions actively promote societal isolation.

There is also the argument that, by forcing these offenders to live "off the grid," local governments are making it harder to keep track of them. Since many registered sex offenders in Florida are essentially homeless, this has been a problem for law enforcement.

Finally, by preventing these men and women from reentering society, governments are preventing them from finding stability in their lives. This too, as many have pointed out, increases the chance of a repeat offense.

For many, it seems clear that there is a better way to bring registered sex offenders back into society. As of now, that better solution is neither clear, nor agreed upon.

How Sex Offender Registration Laws Have Changed in Florida

The original idea behind sex offender laws/registrations was to single out true pedophiles and sexual deviants, but unfortunately, over time, politicians have so poisoned the well with all sorts of ?add ons?. As a result, now a young college student has sex with a co-ed, who after the act, has  second thoughts and claims date rape, has a trial, gets convicted, and is lumped in on the internet, with the true perverts, and is branded as if he were one of the originally targeted pedophiles, for life. This is absurd, and has diluted the meaningfulness of the posting of sex offenders on the Internet and in communities. This also occurs when a 17 year old has some sexual conduct with his 15 year old girlfriend, and her parents find out ? this is nothing more than what has gone on for eons. These examples were not included in the original inception of sex offender registration laws; however the life impact has become the same across the board regardless of the circumstances or severity of the act.

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