TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The Florida Action Committee, Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s sex offender registration laws.
The complaint, filed Aug. 11 in Tallahassee, argues that the state’s restrictions on where registrants can live, travel, gather and communicate violate several constitutional protections.
The defendants include Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Mark Glass and dozens of cities and counties across the state, including Suwannee County and Jackson County.
In the complaint shared with WCTV Wednesday, the action committee argues that the state’s registration system has evolved from a notification and recordkeeping tool into what it describes as “a system of perpetual punishment.”
The lawsuit alleges that the restrictions continue long after people have completed their sentences and can affect housing, travel, employment, family life and other daily activities.
“For many, the practical effect is not just ceaseless supervision; it is banishment. The resulting system is no mere civil “collateral consequence” of a conviction—it is a lifelong punishment.”
As a result of the claims, the action committee’s lawsuit challenges several portions of the sex offender registration system, including residency and presence restrictions, loitering provisions, travel reporting requirements and restrictions on speech in particular public places.
Under the law described in the complaint, certain registrants are prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of any school, park, child care facility or playground. Furthermore, the lawsuit notes that legislation recently signed added public pools to the list of locations near which registrants are not allowed to live.
The court document went on to say that statewide residency restrictions alone make between 57% to 60% of the state’s residential housing units legally unavailable to registrants, depending on how distances are measured.
However, the lawsuit alleges that local ordinances in some communities create additional restrictions.
As a result of the allegations, the action committee is asking the court to prevent the defendants from enforcing the challenged laws and ordinances in ways inconsistent with the declaration it seeks.
WCTV has reached out to FDLE for a response to the lawsuit and will include it once we receive it.
Read the full lawsuit below:
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