Reforming Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Laws
Weekly update for September 2, 2026. This is recording number 389. Dear Members and Advocates, There are weeks when you just have to wonder whether the people running the registry understand how their own actions help make our case for us. Within a couple of weeks after being named as a defendant, Flagler County conducted what it called a “first of
Boynton Beach, Florida — August 11, 2026 — The Florida Action Committee (FAC), a statewide nonprofit organization advocating for evidence-based criminal justice policies, today announced the filing of a sweeping federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s sex offender registration and restriction scheme as unconstitutional. Filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Case No. 4:26-cv-00388-MW-MJF), the lawsuit
Weekly update for September 2, 2026. This is recording number 389. Dear Members and Advocates, There are weeks when you just have to wonder whether the people running the registry understand how their own actions help make our case for us. Within a couple of weeks after being named as a defendant, Flagler County conducted what it called a “first of
Last week we wrote a piece about what victims actually think of the registry. This week, a story in The Palm Beach Post raises another point related to Florida’s Marsy’s Law: What happens when the victim doesn’t want the outcome the State wants? According to the reporting, a coach pleaded guilty to offenses involving a 14-year-old student and was sentenced
A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit illustrates just how far the system can go to keep a person on the registry from living where he wants to live—even when the proposed residence is otherwise perfectly lawful. The facts in Sera v. Zimmerman are remarkable. Steven Sera was was granted parole in February 2024,
On August 11, 2026, the Florida Action Committee filed one of the most ambitious civil rights lawsuits in the history of sex offense registry litigation. The caption alone runs for pages: Florida Action Committee v. Mark Glass, Case No. 4:26-cv-00388, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division — naming the head of the
We are well under way with our 2026-2027 FAC email campaign. Our focus this year is an bill for the Florida Legislature whose purpose is to allow youthful offenders to petition for removal from the registry after 10 years instead of after 25 years. This is FAC’s first ever bill, a momentous event! Every time an email on a particular
Here’s a good decision from the Kansas Supreme Court that touches on a question many of us have been asking about… these registration fees. What happens if you can’t afford them? [NOTE: This is Kansas, not Florida, but still a good indication of how judges might think.] In State v. Sims (August 14, 2026), the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously reversed