WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —Florida Senator Lauren Book, a Democrat from Broward, suggested a change to SB 1252 on Tuesday. The change would mean that offenders would have to get new IDs and license plates.
The change that was added on Tuesday says that registered sex offenders in the state must have the words “sexual offender” written in red on their driver’s licenses. It also says that the license plates of any cars they own, lease, or drive must have a bright green plate that stands out.
A Florida Action Committee worker who does not want to be named is worried about how extreme this bill is. He says that he is on the list of sex offenders, so if this bill passes, it will touch him directly.
“When I was 18, I did something stupid, and it’s stuck with me to this day…”In the eight years I’ve been in society, I’ve never broken the law again, gotten a ticket, or been pulled over,” he said.
He did time for his crime many years ago, and he’s afraid that if this bill passes, he and his family will be targeted.
“I have a wife, three kids, and a great job,” he said. When is the punishment going to stop? Because you’re not just hurting me anymore. He said, “You’re hurting my family.”
When we talked to people about the plan, they had different opinions about the change.
“Well, I think they should make that decision if it’s something that protects the community and everyone in it,” said local Gloria Ben.
“I also want to make sure that this doesn’t get abused, because there are a lot of ways that people can get on the sex registry list even though they haven’t done anything wrong or sexual. So, if we are going to do this, I do want to see more rules about how it will be traded. “Other than that, I think it’s a good start,” said neighbor Dominic Fonseca.
The bill was meant to be talked about on Friday, but that didn’t happen. Instead, it was moved to Monday.
We asked Sen. Book if we could talk to him. She wasn’t around to talk about it.
