While everyone was busy watching Ron Book's DUI arrest, THIS happened

It was suspected that once Ron Book and the Miami-Dade County Commission excluded registered persons from the Pottinger Agreement, there would be a push to undo the Pottinger Agreement altogether. They did. The police can now arrest the homeless for shits and giggles now. And it is all thanks to Ron Book. 

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-judge-throws-out-pottinger-homeless-protection-law-11087371

Judge Invalidates Miami's Landmark Homeless-Protection Order From 1998

JERRY IANNELLI | FEBRUARY 15, 2019 | 3:16PM

One of the nation's landmark homeless-protection laws is now gone.

Since May 2018, the City of Miami has been trying to invalidate a 1998 legal decision that prevented city cops from arresting homeless people for living their lives outside. The so-called Pottinger Agreement, named for homeless Miamian Michael Pottinger, prevented police from, say, arresting homeless people for sleeping outside or placing their items on the sidewalk.

Even with those protections in place, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said Miami cops were blatantly harassing the homeless — including spraying them with power washers and arresting a woman who was in dire need of medical care and likely died due to the detainment. The ACLU also argued the City of Miami was trying to terminate the agreement as a way to sweep homeless residents out of the rapidly gentrifying downtown area.

The ACLU fought for roughly a decade to pass the agreement. In 1988, the rights group teamed up with more than 5,000 homeless Miamians to sue the city. The ACLU said Miami cops were intentionally harassing the homeless, destroying their property, and arresting them for no reason. Courts at the time agreed: In 1998, after ten years of legal battling, the city entered into a consent decree. Per the Pottinger Agreement, cops couldn't wantonly arrest the homeless or destroy their belongings anymore. Instead, officers had to give the homeless a chance to enter a shelter before arresting them for life-sustaining activity.

In its legal filing last year, the City of Miami argued the Pottinger Agreement was no longer necessary: The city said that homeless residents have more resources now than they had in 1998 and that the agreement made it more difficult for police to patrol the city.

But homeless residents strongly disagreed.

Ben Waxman, the ACLU attorney who fought to pass the agreement, last year protected it from the City of Miami's attack. He did not respond to a phone call from New Times this afternoon.

The ACLU's legal brief provided ample evidence that Miami cops were still violating the Pottinger rules:

Plaintiffs have amassed nearly two dozen declarations from homeless persons who recently have had their property destroyed, have been ordered to leave public sidewalks while committing no crime, or have been harassed by police and/or arrested without being offered shelter. Plaintiffs possess video evidence demonstrating that the City is collecting and destroying homeless persons’ property en masse. They have video evidence of homeless persons being arrested without probable cause, and without any offer of shelter.

 The filing continued.

Beginning some three to six months ago or more, the City embarked upon a “cleanup” of various targeted areas throughout Miami. City employees, typically working under the supervision of the police, have seized what are clearly homeless people’s belongings and hauled them off like trash – at times over the desperate pleadings of individuals trying to save them. Separately or in connection with these “clean-ups,” City police officers have been threatening homeless persons with arrest – explicitly or implicitly in the form of orders to move on from an area – without offering shelter, and often without even citing any legal violation. On many occasions, these hreatst have amounted to banishment from a given area, as the police admonish homeless persons to stay away from that area and not come back. Finally, City police have failed to document their interactions with homeless persons in the “clean-ups” and sweeps, as required by the Consent Decree.

The ACLU also provided New Times with video and photographic evidence of MPD officers harassing the homeless. In one instance, cops were taped "cleaning up" a homeless encampment and destroying property that had been left on sidewalks, including crucial items such as ID cards and birth certificates.

But in the most upsetting case, Miami PD was filmed arresting a homeless woman named Tabitha Bass in March 2018. Bass had been sleeping on the street with her boyfriend, but when cops asked her for ID, she said she didn't have any. Officers then took her to jail for "obstructing the sidewalk," in what the ACLU said was a transparent Pottinger violation. But Bass was also ill at the time. She spent three days in jail without access to medical care — which advocates say directly led to her death mere weeks later.

A Drunken Ron Book crashes His Lamborghini and gets arrested for DUI in Broward County

In 2002, the NISMART-2 estimated 45 worst case "stereo kidnappings" happened that year, the kind that permeates headlines and ends in death or permanently missing.

In 2017, a total of 1,147 children 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those 1,147 fatalities, 220 (19%) occurred in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes. Out of those 220 deaths, 118 (54%) were occupants of vehicles with drivers who had BACs of .08 or higher, and another 29 children (13%) were pedestrians or pedal-cyclists struck by drivers with BACs of .08 or higher. 71 (32%) were occupants of other vehicles, and 2 (1%) were drivers.

What that means is that your child is statistically more likely to die at the hands of a drunk driver than a kidnapper, much less a registered person (which is barely 5% of sex crime arrests on average).

Imagine Ronald Lee Book of 510 Coconut Palm Terrace Plantation, FL 33324, the millionaire head of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, driving around the city in an overpriced Lamborghini, drunk as a skunk, gets involved in a wreck in which the car Ron hit flipped. He failed THREE field sobriety tests. He REFUSED to take the breathalyzer.

If Ron Book is trying to claim his meds made him drive erratically, then:

1. Has Book had cancer for a decade? Other media reports found a decade worth of Book citations for reckless driving.
2. Are we honestly expectedd to believe the "most powerful lobbyist" who makes millions of dollars can't read a prescription label warning of drowsiness or not to drive while taking the meds?
3. Why would Book refuse a breathalyzer test if you are sober?
4. Why lie to the police about how he caused the accident?

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-lobbyist-ron-book-arrested-for-alleged-dui-11096630

Miami Lobbyist Ron Book Arrested for Alleged DUI
JERRY IANNELLI | FEBRUARY 25, 2019 | 2:22PM

Ron Book, one of the most powerful lobbyists in Florida, was arrested Sunday for DUI, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office online arrest database. Book is one of the most influential behind-the-scenes political figures in the state. In addition to being the lobbyist for powerful private firms such as the prison giant GEO Group, Book is also the official lobbyist for Miami-Dade County.

The Sun Sentinel first reported news of Book's arrest after a car rolled over on I-595 near Nob Hill Road. According to BSO's online records, Book was slapped with two charges: driving under the influence and damaging someone else's property. He also allegedly refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Book's bail was set at $1,500. He bonded out that night.

Notably, Book spends a great deal of time admonishing others — specifically the homeless — for similar conduct. He chairs Miami-Dade County's Homeless Trust, a position he holds despite having no background in social work, addiction therapy, or any other relevant social scientific study.

He routinely fights public programs designed to make life easier for the homeless. For example, Book once argued against the addition of more public bathrooms in Miami-Dade because in his view, making life "easier" for the homeless makes it harder for the county to reform them.

Book also drew criticism in 2017 for encouraging the arrest of homeless people as a way to give them "shelter" during Hurricane Irma. He also became nationally known as the lobbyist who put sex offenders under a bridge after New Times discovered that sex-offender-residency laws he championed forced a group of Miami's homeless sex offenders to live beneath the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

It's unlikely that Book's arrest will affect his numerous Florida lobbying gigs. This is not his first run-in with the law: In 1986, he was charged with insurance fraud after he allegedly overstated by $10,000 the value of a car that had allegedly been stolen. Book pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and received no prison time.

Book then launched a volley of illegal political donations to local and state candidates. New Times columnist Jim DeFede wrote in 1995: "Having been scandalized in the Eighties, barely escaping the decade without a criminal conviction, and knowing that police and prosecutors were just waiting for him to trip up again, Ron Book chose to blatantly violate state law by funneling more than $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions to at least a dozen of his political cronies in state and county government. He did this not in a single campaign season, but year after year, over and over again."

He pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges, paid a $2,000 fine, and agreed to donate $40,000 to charity. Book, a lawyer, narrowly avoided being disbarred.

In the years since, he's become a lobbyist for Boca Raton's GEO Group, a private company that turns a profit from the arrest and incarceration of others.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article226755894.html

In the last 10 years, Book has received several traffic citations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but has been convicted on only four: speeding by going 46 mph in a 30 mph zone; not using a turn signal; not wearing a seat belt; and going 75 mph in a 45 mph zone. His fines paid total $783.

That bottle beside Ron isn't cancer medicine

Guess who is STILL taking GEO Group's dirty money. Take a guess. Hint, name rhymes with "crook"

Lauren Book the so-called "child victim advocate" is STILL accepting money from GEO Group, the company that settled in a Mississippi Court for allowing rampant physical AND SEXUAL ABUSE

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-democrats-indirectly-accept-private-prison-money-from-geo-group-despite-ban-11061074

Despite Ban, Florida Democrats Still Indirectly Accepting Private-Prison Money

JERRY IANNELLI | JANUARY 29, 2019 | 9:14AM

Last year, a group of progressive activists convinced the Florida Democratic Party to stop accepting campaign donations from private, for-profit prison companies. The industry, which makes billions by keeping other human beings behind bars, immorally incentivizes cities to needlessly lock people up, many activists agree. One of America's two largest private-prison firms, Boca Raton-based GEO Group, is a major donor to both political parties.

The Democratic contribution ban was approved despite centrist members' argument the party needed the money. But GEO Group's cash has still made it into party coffers. It comes from political-action committees and lobbyists associated with GEO, state donation records show.

Most obviously, there's the Future Democratic Majority PAC, which accepted a $25,000 contribution directly from GEO on October 23. Then on November 1, the PAC donated $5,000 to the Florida Dems. Future Democratic Majority was formed last year by a team of Democratic state senators including Sens. Randolph Bracy, Linda Steward, Darryl Rouson, and Lauren Book, who is the daughter of ultralobbyist Ron Book.

The elder Book has long worked as a lobbyist for GEO. And other PACs have contributed to the party after taking his money. One of these, the "Leadership for Florida" committee, accepted $25,000 from Book on September 14 and then donated $10,000 to the state party. Before 2018, the PAC had taken $100,000 directly from GEO. "Leadership for Florida" is State Sen. Lauren Book's official campaign committee.

There's another group called Truth & Transparency, Inc., which took $40,000 from Book and $40,000 from the Future Democratic Majority PAC. Then, between October 3 and November 4, Truth & Transparency funneled a whopping $279,000 to the Florida Democratic Party in five separate donations.

Though last year's resolution says the party must "refuse donations from the registered lobbyists of, and any PACs associated with, private prison companies," Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Caroline Rowland argues that, since the money passed through multiple hands before reaching party accounts, the donations do not violate party rules.

"The Florida Democratic Party did not take money from a private prison or a lobbyist associated with a private prison," she writes in an email. "The party has not taken money from a PAC or an organization with a board member that is associated with or works for a private prison. The Florida Democratic Party will continue to follow in the spirit of this resolution, rejecting money from private prisons and lobbyists who work or associate with them."

The controversy shows how difficult it is to ban powerful donors from state politics. Although companies such as GEO can no longer directly donate to the Florida Democratic Party, those companies can still easily funnel cash through chains of committees. It's up to party activists to then sort out where PAC money ultimately comes from, a necessary but time-consuming process.

The process becomes even more complicated once lobbyists are factored in. Someone such as Book works for a seemingly endless list of clients and donates money to an avalanche of candidates and committees every year. He's as omnipresent as wallpaper. Though GEO is among his clients, some party members are hostile to the notion of refusing Book's money. According to state databases, GEO currently employs at least seven lobbyists besides Book.

Reached via phone, the party's second-in-command, former public relations and political campaign consultant Juan Peñalosa, seemed frustrated that New Times even brought up the issue. He questioned whether the newspaper would also investigate Republican donations from GEO and other private-prison firms (which New Times has done repeatedly), or if New Times was "just going after Dems." [sic]

Via phone, Peñalosa said he did not know anything about the GEO-funded PACs. "I would love to get money out of politics too, but I also have a staff to pay," Peñalosa said. He added that he knew nothing of the donations and that the party doesn't "check out the donation records of every person who gives to us."

He also said Book, for example, "gives to everyone," and that it would therefore be extremely difficult to ban him or other lobbyists of his stature from donating to the party.

Civil rights activists within the party last year were frustrated with Peñalosa after, in their opinion, he worked against passing the prison-donor ban. Peñalosa denies this, but New Times previously obtained internal party emails showing Peñalosa called portions of the ban "extremely problematic" before encouraging the party to water down the resolution's language.

In fact, the party's current stance appears to differ from what Peñalosa himself stated before the resolution was passed: In the email New Times obtained, Peñalosa told party members he was worried the party would be forced to give back donations from PACs that have taken money from GEO or other private-prison firms.

Most obviously, there's the Future Democratic Majority PAC, which accepted a $25,000 contribution directly from GEO on October 23. Then on November 1, the PAC donated $5,000 to the Florida Dems. Future Democratic Majority was formed last year by a team of Democratic state senators including Sens. Randolph Bracy, Linda Steward, Darryl Rouson, and Lauren Book, who is the daughter of ultralobbyist Ron Book.

The elder Book has long worked as a lobbyist for GEO. And other PACs have contributed to the party after taking his money. One of these, the "Leadership for Florida" committee, accepted $25,000 from Book on September 14 and then donated $10,000 to the state party. Before 2018, the PAC had taken $100,000 directly from GEO. "Leadership for Florida" is State Sen. Lauren Book's official campaign committee.

There's another group called Truth & Transparency, Inc., which took $40,000 from Book and $40,000 from the Future Democratic Majority PAC. Then, between October 3 and November 4, Truth & Transparency funneled a whopping $279,000 to the Florida Democratic Party in five separate donations.

Though last year's resolution says the party must "refuse donations from the registered lobbyists of, and any PACs associated with, private prison companies," Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Caroline Rowland argues that, since the money passed through multiple hands before reaching party accounts, the donations do not violate party rules.

"The Florida Democratic Party did not take money from a private prison or a lobbyist associated with a private prison," she writes in an email. "The party has not taken money from a PAC or an organization with a board member that is associated with or works for a private prison. The Florida Democratic Party will continue to follow in the spirit of this resolution, rejecting money from private prisons and lobbyists who work or associate with them."

The controversy shows how difficult it is to ban powerful donors from state politics. Although companies such as GEO can no longer directly donate to the Florida Democratic Party, those companies can still easily funnel cash through chains of committees. It's up to party activists to then sort out where PAC money ultimately comes from, a necessary but time-consuming process.

The process becomes even more complicated once lobbyists are factored in. Someone such as Book works for a seemingly endless list of clients and donates money to an avalanche of candidates and committees every year. He's as omnipresent as wallpaper. Though GEO is among his clients, some party members are hostile to the notion of refusing Book's money. According to state databases, GEO currently employs at least seven lobbyists besides Book.

Reached via phone, the party's second-in-command, former public relations and political campaign consultant Juan Peñalosa, seemed frustrated that New Times even brought up the issue. He questioned whether the newspaper would also investigate Republican donations from GEO and other private-prison firms (which New Times has done repeatedly), or if New Times was "just going after Dems." [sic]

Via phone, Peñalosa said he did not know anything about the GEO-funded PACs. "I would love to get money out of politics too, but I also have a staff to pay," Peñalosa said. He added that he knew nothing of the donations and that the party doesn't "check out the donation records of every person who gives to us."

He also said Book, for example, "gives to everyone," and that it would therefore be extremely difficult to ban him or other lobbyists of his stature from donating to the party.

Civil rights activists within the party last year were frustrated with Peñalosa after, in their opinion, he worked against passing the prison-donor ban. Peñalosa denies this, but New Times previously obtained internal party emails showing Peñalosa called portions of the ban "extremely problematic" before encouraging the party to water down the resolution's language.

In fact, the party's current stance appears to differ from what Peñalosa himself stated before the resolution was passed: In the email New Times obtained, Peñalosa told party members he was worried the party would be forced to give back donations from PACs that have taken money from GEO or other private-prison firms.

The defeats also have critics wondering if Florida is simply a Republican stronghold nowadays. A report last week from Politico Florida confirmed that 2018's large Republican turnout in 2018 seemed more like a presidential election than a midterm year.

There are also signs the Democratic Party failed to even run a competitive race. Veteran Politico reporter Marc Caputo has reported the party was warned, repeatedly, that candidates were trailing Republicans in reaching out to Hispanic voters. But campaigns (especially Nelson's) dithered. Separately, the party's state treasurer, Francesca Menes, quit after the election and told New Times she felt the party ignored her warnings of improper attention to financial issues and insufficient attention to black voices.

The party was also accused of participating in a bizarre scheme to allegedly alter state documents to seemingly let voters "correct" ballot signatures after the deadline for doing so. The public so far knows preciously little about the allegations — including what top party officials knew. Law-enforcement officials have not charged anyone in the probe.

In the meantime, allegations of abuse and neglect at GEO-run facilities continue to pile up: Earlier this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that kids in the 100-plus federal migrant-detention facilities are being used as "bait" to catch deportable adult sponsors or deter immigrants from taking in refugee kids. As part of that suit, the SPLC cited a previous New Times story that revealed when immigrants in Miami's massive migrant camp turn 18, they are often handcuffed and transported to a Pompano Beach facility called the Broward Transitional Center. That building is operated by the GEO Group.

Senator Lauren Book wants to make a "Soliciting for Prostitution" Registry (SB 540)

The difference between a politician and a prostitute is that a prostitute
usually screws only one person at a time for money

Senator Lauren Book filed SB 540, which, among other things, will create a "Solicitation of Prostitution" registry. Proponents of legalizing sex work in America should be very concerned about this bill.

SB 540: Human Trafficking
GENERAL BILL by Book

Human Trafficking; Requiring the owner or operator of a public lodging establishment to train certain employees and create certain policies relating to human trafficking by a specified date; requiring the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with the Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General, to establish a certain direct-support organization; requiring that the criminal history record of a person who is convicted of, or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring another to commit prostitution, lewdness, or assignation be added to the Soliciting for Prostitution Registry, etc.

Effective Date: 7/1/2019
Last Action: 1/25/2019 Senate - Filed

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/540/BillText/Filed/HTML

Section 3. Subsection (5) of section 796.07, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (2) of that section is republished, to read...

(e) The criminal history record of a person who violates paragraph (2)(f) and is found guilty as a result of a trial or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, regardless of whether adjudication is withheld, must be added to the Soliciting for Prostitution Registry. Upon the person’s conviction, the clerk of the court shall forward the criminal history record of the convicted person to the Department of Law Enforcement for inclusion in the Soliciting for Prostitution Registry.

 Section 4. Section 943.0433, Florida Statutes, is created to read:

 943.0433 Soliciting for Prostitution Registry.—

(1) The department shall create and administer the Soliciting for Prostitution Registry. The clerk of the court shall forward to the department the criminal history record of a person in accordance with s. 796.07(5)(e), and the department must add the criminal history record to the registry.
 (2) The department shall adopt rules to administer this section.

The definition of IRONY: Florida's least truthful Senator files bill to make lying in legislature a felony

Senator Lauren Book

The dumbest, least truthful FloriDUH state Senator, Lauren Book and her twice-convicted criminal father have built their careers by lying numerous times before legislature. Now the bimbo filed the "Truth in Government Act" (SB 58) "deleting provisions regarding the administration of oaths and affirmations to witnesses appearing before legislative committees, and associated penalties, to conform to changes made by the act; requiring that persons addressing a legislative committee take an oath or affirmation of truthfulness; providing criminal penalties for certain false statements before a legislative committee, etc."

But it should come as no surprise that Book made herself an exclusion to the bill so she won't be locked up for lying. However, daddy Book could theoretically be jailed for lying. I'd pay to see him behind bars where he belongs!

https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/i-swear-to-tell-the-truth-lawmaker-files-bill-that-would-make-lying-in-legislature-a-felony/

“I swear to tell the truth:” Lawmaker files bill that would make lying in Legislature a felony
By Julie Hauserman -January 2, 2019

It’s no secret that the Legislature is a place where lawmakers and lobbyists sometimes – shall we say –  stretch the truth to make a point. A South Florida state senator has just filed legislation which would require people who give testimony in the Legislature to take an oath that they’ll tell the truth.

“Any person who addresses a standing or select  committee, or a subcommittee thereof, shall first declare that  he or she will speak truthfully by taking an oath or affirmation in substantially the following form: ‘Do you swear or affirm  that the information you are about to share will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?’ The person’s answer must be noted in the record,” the “Truth in Government Act” reads, in part.

The penalty for lying would be a third-degree felony.

It doesn’t apply to legislators themselves, however. But a legislator (or legislative staffer) caught in a falsehood “is subject to discipline by the presiding officer of the applicable house of the Legislature for making a false statement that he or she does not believe to be true,” the draft bill says.

The legislation was filed by Sen. Lauren Book, a Democrat from Plantation who has been in the Legislature since 2016.

The 2019 Legislature formally convenes in March, but is holding committee meetings to discuss issues and proposed legislation in January and February. The “Truth in Government Act” gets its first public discussion on Monday, Jan. 7, in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lauren Book is jumping on the ban sex robots bandwagon

Is there no obscure fear Lauren Book will not exploit? Apparently not.

(By the way, I see Florida Politics is still pimping everything Lauren does. I wonder if there are some illegal campaign contributions in this exchange somewhere?)

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/283624-book-bill-sex-dolls

Lauren Book files state ban of ‘obscene, child-like‘ sex dolls

ByRyan NicolonDecember 17, 2018
State Sen. Lauren Book has filed a bill (SB 160) which would seek to criminalize the sale of sex dolls designed to look like young children.

“A person may not knowingly sell, lend, give away, distribute, transmit, show, or transmute … an obscene, child-like sex doll,” the bill says.

“These obscene dolls are being shipped from China to Canada and then being sent to different places throughout the country,” Book told Florida Politics about the need for the measure.

A report earlier this month from CBC details at least 42 such dolls being seized at the Canadian border in the previous two years. The sex dolls possess “child-like dimensions and features,” according to the piece.

And a few months ago in Kentucky, officials attempted to arrest and charge a man who had purchased similar dolls from China. While law enforcement argued possession of the dolls was akin to possession of child pornography, a judge dismissed all charges against the man.

The judge’s reasoning? Laws banning possession of child pornography require the involvement of an actual child, not just a child-like doll.

Given the gap in the law, Book is concerned the dolls will serve not as a replacement for the urges of pedophiles, but as a catalyst for perpetrators to seek out victims.

“That is not a cure for anything,” Book argued. “The doll just isn’t enough, and then they act out again sexually on children.”

Book said she had drafted a version of the bill during the 2018 Legislative Session, but it was not taken up because it was not filed in time.

“We want to make sure that law enforcement has all the tools that they need,” Book added.

The lawmaker admitted people may be surprised that this issue would require legislation. But she said the measure is necessary to get out in front of the issue, especially as the technology to create such lifelike representations will only become more advanced.

“It’s something that’s happening and something that we need to be paying attention to.”

The U.S. House has also passed a bill that would make these dolls illegal at the federal level. That bill, however, has stalled out in the U.S. Senate.

Book’s bill would also bar any offers to sell the dolls, as well as possessing such a doll with the intent to sell. Advertising the objects would also be criminalized. A violation would be a third-degree felony.

Book, a Plantation Democrat who represents Senate District 32 in Broward County, has made preventing the abuse of children a top priority of hers in the Legislature. She was named chair of the Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs late last month.

I see the lying Lauren Book is still sponging off her charity a la the Donald Trump Foundation. Corruption at its nastiest.

Lauren Book finally found a non-victim cause truly worthy of her vast powers as a crooked politician

We all know Lauren Book is full of shit, but you have to wonder just what is going on with the Book family with supporting this bill. Do the Books have stock in adult diapers? Or do they just use an awful lot of them because they're full of shit and/or have a diaper/poop fetish? One can only wonder. 

https://www.billtrack50.com/BillDetail/995286

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Paragraph (ppp) is added to subsection (7) of section 212.08, Florida Statutes, to read:

212.08 Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution, and storage tax; specified exemptions.—The sale at retail, the rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the storage to be used or consumed in this state of the following are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter.

(7) MISCELLANEOUS EXEMPTIONS.—Exemptions provided to any entity by this chapter do not inure to any transaction that is otherwise taxable under this chapter when payment is made by a representative or employee of the entity by any means, including, but not limited to, cash, check, or credit card, even when that representative or employee is subsequently reimbursed by the entity. In addition, exemptions provided to any entity by this subsection do not inure to any transaction that is otherwise taxable under this chapter unless the entity has obtained a sales tax exemption certificate from the department or the entity obtains or provides other documentation as required by the department. Eligible purchases or leases made with such a certificate must be in strict compliance with this subsection and departmental rules, and any person who makes an exempt purchase with a certificate that is not in strict compliance with this subsection and the rules is liable for and shall pay the tax. The department may adopt rules to administer this subsection.

(ppp) Diapers and incontinence products.—The sale for human use of diapers, incontinence undergarments, incontinence pads, or incontinence liners is exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter.

Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.

False Flag: Senator Lauren Book and Florida Politics create story suspiciously claiming she was target of the #MAGAbomber

The Florida Politics blog is deeply in bed with FloriDUH Senator Lauren Book. They are the only media outlet to publish this obvious attempt to claim victimhood by the premier professional victim of South Florida.

Bimbo Book claims the FBI showed up at her door and that she was a potential target. By now, these bombs have all been found. Obviously, if this idiot had been a target of the #MAGAbomber, then how is it no bomb ever showed up? After all, the bombs were sent from her own town. Cesar Sayoc was arrested in Plantation. Lauren Book's claims are nothing more than an attempt to attract sympathy, something this professional victim does for a living. This claim is a false flag.

Be greateful, my fellow Floridians-- you dodged a worse bomb in having this Democrat version of Sarah Palin miss out on being Andrew Gillim's running mate. We can all breathe a sign of relief knowing that the state could've been controlled by this complete fucktard.

It must really irk her knowing that most people outside of those in the Florida Legislature, her dad, his cronies, her cronies, and the Florida Politics blog couldn't give two shits about her. She simply wants to feel important, and her cronies at the Florida Politics blog are quick to play the enabler role.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/279954-lauren-book-mail-bomber

Lauren Book among potential targets for accused mail bomber

JACOB OGLES
23 hours ago
A man accused of sending pipe bombs to liberal leaders across the country also scoured the internet for information on Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book of South Florida.

FBI agents came to Book’s home to inform her of concerns that a pipe bomb may yet be sent to her, the Plantation Democrat said.

“When I went into this, I knew politics could be messy,” Book said, “but not somebody sending you a pipe bomb filled with glass to blow you and your kids up.”

Book wasn’t home when agents arrived. She was at the airport about to fly to Tallahassee for a United Way Women’s Leadership Breakfast to hear CNN host and author Lisa Ling speak.

But husband Blair Byrnes and her two infants were at home. As she sat at an airport ready to board a plane, Book listened to FBI agents brief her from her living room while her children napped upstairs.

The agents told Book that Cesar Sayoc, the man investigators believe sent explosive materials to more than a dozen left-leaning public figures in American politics, had also done research on Book’s record of public service.

FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Oct. 26 that agents arrested Sayoc in connection to pipe bombs sent to billionaire George Soros, former President Barack Obama and individuals at CNN, among others.

But authorities told NBC News that Sayoc kept a list of more than 100 possible targets, and potential victims would be notified individually.

Authorities arrested Sayoc in Plantation, in the heart of Book’s own district, though they now say he lived in Aventura. His mother Madeline Giardello is president of an area condo association.

In searching Sayoc’s personal computer, the FBI told Book, investigators found significant research into Book’s career, including votes on various pieces of legislation in Tallahassee.

“It’s hard to believe because I had only been there two years,” Book says.

Indeed, when news of a threat to political figures first broke days earlier, police set up in Book’s office, but her husband joked no one targeting major political figures and national news personalities would care about a state senator.

He was wrong.

At the time, it did raise concerns for Book when one of the bomber’s packages was returned to the Sunrise office of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Book previously used that same space for a temporary district office, which filled her thoughts as she watched news footage of authorities sweeping the office.

But while that seemed eerie, news Book actually could be the target of a local terrorist proved shocking.

FBI officials told Book she needed to take alternate routes when she drove to work, and call authorities in the event any unfamiliar packages showed up on her doorstep, even though the suspect was already in custody.

To date, it’s only been anticipated packages from Amazon and other retailers that showed up on Book’s doorstep, she jokes, but as she tries to keep the topic light, she says it’s only because of the terrifying truth of the threat to her life.

But when Book got involved fighting sex trafficking, she knew which groups would be angry and upset, she says. She could anticipate trouble from a known realm of unsavory and identified individuals.

In this case, she seems to have been targeted by a right-wing lunatic for no other reason than being a Democrat.

“This won’t stop you from doing your work,” she says, “but it does make me more aware, and it makes me want to be more protective of myself and my kids.”

GEO Group, which gives money to Ron and Lauren Book, threatens to drag protesters to court

I've already established that Lauren Book doesn't care about children behind bars. Now it appears she cares just as little about children of immigrant families. Lauren Book continues to ramble on social media about her stupid vanity car tags and about Brock Turner, thousands of immigrants, including children, have been reporting sexual abuse in ICE detention centers run by GEO Group, one of the the Book Crime Family's biggest clients. 

I have yet to see Lauren the bimbo even acknowledge that GEO Group private prisons are grounds for rampant sexual abuse. 

In fact, I would not be surprised if the Book Crime Family suggested GEO Group sued their detractors, since the Books tried the same to one of those helping tun this blog. 

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/geo-group-threatens-to-sue-dream-defenders-over-anti-private-prison-activism-10592772

ICE's Biggest Private-Prison Contractor Threatens to Sue Florida Civil-Rights Activists

JERRY IANNELLI, TIM ELFRINK | AUGUST 6, 2018 | 8:00AM

Boca Raton's GEO Group is Immigration and Customs Enforcement's single biggest contractor, with more than $400 million worth of deals to run private prisons, including the Broward Transitional Center, a site housing "low-priority" detainees. As the Trump administration has ripped families apart and jailed immigrants with no criminal records, GEO has come under heavy fire for making huge profits from those policies.

Now, GEO has a new strategy to combat that criticism: threatening to sue the civil-rights activists mounting the protests.

On Friday, GEO sent a cease-and-desist letter to Dream Defenders, a Florida group that has organized statewide protests against GEO and, in July, convinced the Florida Democratic Party to stop taking any donations from private-prison companies like GEO. In the letter, GEO claims that Dream Defenders are using "false information" to incite violence against GEO facilities.

"It is clear that Dream Defenders published knowingly false statements regarding GEO in an attempt to incite others to engage in potentially violent and harmful behavior directed at GEO facilities," reads the letter sent from Philadelphia-based attorney Carolyn P. Short of the Holland & Knight firm.

In a scathing response, the group hit back this morning with a point-by-point dissection of the supposedly "false" claims it had made against GEO Group and offering evidence that each criticism — including allegations that GEO is "caging children" and jailing poor black, Latino, and white people — is, in fact, accurate.

"You had the audacity to allege that the Dream Defenders, a group of young people of color who are advocating for our basic human rights, are exhibiting 'threatening and violent behavior toward GEO,'" the group says in its response letter. "We are advocating the end to your harmful and violent carceral behavior, which countless news reports, lawsuits, and government investigations have already established."

Dream Defenders, which was founded in 2012, has regularly protested GEO Group's private prison work, including in a new video series launched in July called "Dream Killers." The series uses a child actor to talk about GEO's political influence. The Defenders are also planning nationwide GEO protests tomorrow.

In its cease-and-desist letter, GEO claims those protests amount to an "intentional campaign to not only defame GEO's business reputation, but incite disruption at GEO's facilities around the country." By encouraging national protests, Dream Defenders' "proposed actions go well beyond the parameters of protected free speech (by) encouraging threatening and violent behavior toward GEO and its employees."

What's more, Short claims in her letter, Dream Defenders have incited that blowback with "false statements." Specifically, GEO singles out claims that the for-profit prison company "separates families," that the company "cages" children, that GEO "puts Black, Latino, and poor White people into jail," and that the company exerts "improper influence over the United States political system."

GEO also claims that Dream Defenders published an "incorrect" list of politicians who have taken cash from the firm, including Florida's Rick Scott, Adam Putnam, and Lauren Book, plus New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (Those donations, of course, are a matter of public record and have been well-documented in the press.)

In its response this morning, Dream Defenders tackle those allegedly false claims one by one.

The claim that GEO is "caging children"?

"You hold children behind bars, fences, and/or in locked facilities," Dream Defenders note. "GEO’s own website details facilities across the country used to detain children for federal and state governments. Your own promotional materials refer to 'standard GTI security equipment such as steel cages' in your transportation fleet. Just this week, conditions in your Karnes County, TX facility have forced hundreds of children and fathers into a strike to protest what they describe as 'being treated like animals.'"

What about the claim the company separates families?

"GEO’s CEO has highlighted the business opportunities that come with the Trump administration’s immigration policies in calls with analysts," Dream Defenders write. "GEO not only maintains the physical walls separating inmates and detained immigrants from their families, but has even profited off of the few moments of connection detainees have over the phone."

It's clear that GEO does incarcerate thousands of poor black, Latino, and white people, the group writes, adding that "just because GEO is not directly responsible for sentencing or deciding which families to incarcerate, detain or deport does not absolve the company of participating in a racist system of mass incarceration that has its roots in slavery and Jim Crow laws."

Dream Defenders also note that GEO has given millions to political action committees and writes that "'lawfully' influencing our politicians with donations is not the same as exercising it morally or properly." The group links to recent news stories that watchdogs are suing over GEO's donations to Trump's SuperPAC and another story that GEO recently moved its annual conference to Trump's golf resort in Doral.

GEO's cease-and-desist letter demands that the Dream Defenders delete their old social media posts and quit spreading "intentionally false and defamatory statements" about GEO.

Dream Defenders say there's no chance they'll do so.

"Threatening us with lawsuits won’t stop us from exposing the truth about what the GEO Group and other Dream Killers are doing to our communities," the group writes in its response letter. "Groups around the country are gearing up to stand against you this week. You’ll need more than flimsy legal maneuvers to stop us."

State Senator Lauren Book DOES NOT CARE about juvenile sexual assault behind bars, PASS IT ON

I've established in a previous article that Senator Lauren Book does not care about sexual assault when it involves troubled youth (see her connections to GEO Group, which has a terrible track record on sexual abuse at juvenile detention centers).

Thus, it is not surprising to see Lauren the bimbo mum on this latest disgusting episode of juveniles sexually assaulted behind bars. What has she focused on instead? A fringe candidate running for office in another state and Brock Turner. Oh, and squeezing more money out of poor Floridiots to make more money for her multimillion dollar victim scam.

There's not a single mention of this story on her social media accounts anywhere. And I know she reads the Herald, presumably for stories about her. I wonder if this detention center is connected in any way to Correct Care Solutions, which contributed to Lauren's latest senate run. What about the Surety Corp of America, which provides insurance to bail bondsmen?

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/article215160910.html

After sexually assaulting boy, 15, youth ‘high-fived’ juvenile justice staffer, records say
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

cmarbin@miamiherald.com

July 19, 2018 07:37 PM

Updated July 20, 2018 03:09 PM

Youth worker Antoine Davis saw it all, authorities say, when four detainees sexually assaulted a peer with a shampoo bottle at a Panhandle mental health treatment center. What he did afterward helps explain why he, too, was charged with lewd and lascivious battery: He exchanged a celebratory “high five” with one of the attackers.

Details of the alleged sexual assault earlier this month at the Walton Academy for Growth and Change are contained in a batch of records released to the Miami Herald Thursday by state juvenile justice administrators, in addition to other records produced by Walton County detectives earlier. The reports say Davis appears to have set the assault in motion, encouraged the attackers, and later dismissed the incident as mere horseplay.

Much of the attack — though not all — was recorded on surveillance video, which administrators have declined to publicly release.

According to the records, Davis wasn’t done tormenting the victim of the sex assault, who at 15 was younger than all his attackers. Thirteen minutes after the abortive sexual assault concluded, the staffer slammed the boy onto a table in what has been termed a separate instance of excessive force.

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The July 5 incident at the mental health and substance abuse treatment center is the most recent case in which a Florida detention officer or youth worker was implicated in a scheme to recruit juvenile offenders to rough up other teens. In April, an officer at the Miami lockup was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of violating the civil rights of a 17-year-old, who was beaten to death by a mob after he mouthed off to the officer, Antwan Johnson.


Play Video
Duration 1:23Death of a young detainee
Cameras at the Miami-Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center show the fatal beating of 17-year-old Elord Revolte from two angles. He ends up in a heap on the floor after more than a dozen boys, without warning, punched and stomped him for more tha

By McClatchy
The Miami Herald reported in October that such practices had flourished throughout the state for perhaps a decade. The series, called Fight Club, detailed how detention center officers and youth workers offered honey buns, fast food hamburgers, Chinese takeout and even sneakers as rewards to enforcers willing to dispense discipline on behalf of workers who were afraid of getting their hands dirty. Department of Juvenile Justice administrators told the Herald they condemned the practice, but denied they were aware it was occurring — though agency records often documented it.

Davis, 27, was charged by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office on July 12 with lewd and lascivious battery, false imprisonment and battery. He remains at the Walton County Jail.

 Walton Academy mugshots.jpg
Four juveniles from the Walton Academy for Growth and Change in Florida’s DeFuniak Springs were arrested and charged on July 6, 2018, with lewd and lascivious battery to a victim 12 to 16 years old and false imprisonment. An employee at the facility, Antoine Davis, was arrested on July 12, charged in the assault. Pictured, from left: Berkley Bell, 17; Brian Burton, 17; DeQuan Myers, 17; and Walter Harvey, 16.
Walton County Sheriff's Office
Administrators at DJJ, which contracts with a private company, Rite of Passage, to operate the DeFuniak Springs treatment center, declined to discuss the incident, saying it is under investigation by the agency’s Inspector General. The agency issued a brief statement.


DJJ’s “top priority is the safety and well-being of the youth in our care,” Secretary Christina K. Daly said. “DJJ has zero tolerance for sexual assault or abuse, and the actions taken by this former contracted staff person are reprehensible and will not be tolerated by any staff person entrusted with caring for the youth in our programs.”

Daly said IG investigators are looking into the reported sexual assault, as well as “any contributing factors related to the incident.”

When agency investigators arrived at the Walton Academy to look into the attack, they learned that the unit where the youth was assaulted had been understaffed at the time. Davis, records show, was overseeing 10 detainees in what is called the “Wildcat/Bulldog” dayroom. He should not have been responsible for more than eight youths.

Davis had been hired by the Walton Academy on May 24, a DJJ spokeswoman said, and his agency record includes only the July 5 incident. State law enforcement records show Davis had been arrested in October 2011 by the Crestview Police Department on charges of selling cocaine. The charges later were dropped, and therefore would not have automatically disqualified him from working with juvenile offenders.

Davis was fired after the July incident was reported.

Records released to the Herald by DJJ Thursday shed little light on what may have precipitated the attempted sexual assault at about 12:20 p.m. on July 5. Police reports also offer no clues.

Davis’ arrest report by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said the assault began when Davis unlocked a cell door and then walked away, leaving the room open and unsupervised, in violation of policy. Video shows Davis walking over to a separate hallway to use a restroom.

@weartv @WJHG_TV @WMBBTV @nwfdailynews @WZEPAM1460

READ MORE HERE: https://t.co/oMJkRl2Qrn pic.twitter.com/8IgGgPKwKD

— Walton Co. Sheriff (@WCSOFL)

July 13, 2018
The 15-year-old was sitting on a couch in a common area watching television, the police report said, when two youths picked him up and “forcefully” carried him into the empty cell. There, all four assailants — three 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old —“forced the victim onto a bed, face down, and proceeded to try to penetrate” the youth with a travel-size bottle of Pert shampoo.

“Mr. Davis can be seen standing in the doorway of the cells watching as the incident unfolds,” the police report said. “Mr. Davis stands in the doorway for roughly one-to-two minutes talking with other juveniles and even appears to be laughing while the victim is being assaulted inside the cell.” The 15-year-old freed himself from the four assailants, and was seen on video pulling his pants up as he walked out of the cell.

A witness who came forward later told police he heard Davis tell the attackers to “stick something up his a--,” as the 15-year-old was pinned to a bed.

The victim became upset after the assault, police said, and began throwing things around the program’s common area. Davis sat down at a card table and began writing a report on the teen for misbehavior. The teen then snatched the discipline report from Davis, who then was captured on video shoving the teen onto a nearby table. Video showed one of the alleged attackers “shaking [Davis’] hand as if approving of the incident.”

DJJ’s incident report said Davis “used an improper technique to place youth [on] a table top.” The report doesn’t specify in what way the takedown was improper, though DJJ described it as a case of “excessive force.”

Play Video
Duration 1:36DJJ staffer body-slams, slugs a skinny 14-year-old

Andrew Ostrovsky went for a drive in his father's car without permission. A detention officer at the Broward lockup beat him up and broke his nose. The kid was locked up. The grown-up went home.

Davis told police he did not witness any sexual assault and that the four attackers “were just horse playing.” When confronted with surveillance video, Davis said he “could not recall why he was laughing while the victim was in the cell with the co-defendants,” the police report said.

Four juveniles and one employee have been arrested following a sexual assault at a contracted Department of Juvenile Justice Facility in Walton County.

Deja Vu: Lauren Book is spending (and receiving) big bucks on her uncontested swamp land district

I've covered this subject before, but Lauren Book

You can look at Lauren Book's campaign contributors at: http://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanDetail.asp?account=69300

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/265993-book-may-800000

Lauren Book spends big in May, with nearly $800K still on-hand

RYAN NICOL
2 days ago
Incumbent state Sen. Lauren Book had another month of big spending. After shelling out more than $40,000 in April, she followed it up by topping more than $50,000 in May spending.

Book’s impressive fundraising totals made those expenditures possible. She still sits on nearly $800,000 between her campaign and committee accounts.

Most of May’s spending went toward campaign petition mailers. About $40,000 went toward those mailers, with most of the remaining expenditures going to state and local Democratic Party groups.

Still, Book was able to offset those costs, bringing in nearly $75,000 to her committee, Leadership for Florida. Book’s campaign account also raised about $18,000.

The first-term senator is running unopposed in the race for Senate District 32. That would be a repeat of her previous election, as she went unchallenged in 2016 as well.

With Book bringing in big money, it’s not clear anyone will step up to the plate to contest her re-election. Book is also serving on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, established following the shooting that killed 17 people back in February.

SD 32 covers portions of Broward County including Weston, Davie, and Cooper City.

The Camel's Nose: Now that Miami-Dade excluded registrants from the Pottinger Agreement, now they're trying to eliminate the Pottinger Agreement altogether

Miami-Dade has been trying to undo the Pottinger Agreement for years after it was made. They used Predator Panic to achieve that goal. It was the old adage about the camel's nose in the tent. Now that the rights of some of Miami-Dade's homeless have been excluded from the Pottinger Agreement, the assault on the Pottinger Agreement itself can commence.

THIS is why everyone should fight for the rights of all Americans, even those unpopular ones.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article212189034.html

A decree bars police from harassing homeless people. Miami has moved to terminate it.
BY JOEY FLECHAS

jflechas@miamiherald.com

May 30, 2018 02:27 PM

Miami has asked a federal judge to terminate a 20-year-old legal agreement that protects the city's homeless from undue police harassment — a change that would allow the police to arrest the homeless for loitering.


The city on Wednesday filed a motion in U.S. District Court to terminate the Pottinger agreement, a 1998 consent decree that prevents police from arresting homeless people for "life-sustaining" activities such as sleeping on the sidewalk, starting a cooking fire or urinating in public. The agreement stems from a landmark lawsuit brought against the city in the early 1990s by 5,000 homeless people and the American Civil Liberties Union to stop the police practice of arresting the homeless for loitering, saying it was unconstitutional.

For two decades, the Pottinger agreement — named for one of the plaintiffs, Michael Pottinger — has governed how police can interact with the homeless. In April, city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution instructing the city attorney to takes steps toward ending or amending the agreement. That resolution was sponsored by Mayor Francis Suarez and commissioners Joe Carollo and Manolo Reyes.

Wednesday's motion solidifies the city's stance that the agreement's additional protections for the homeless are no longer needed in Miami because the city can humanely steer people on the street toward an expanded range of services that were not available in 1998.

“The circumstances have changed, and today Pottinger restricts the city from acting in the best interest of homeless persons and residents in general,” said City Manager Emilio González, in a statement. “Without the constraints of Pottinger we can better provide services for the homeless with dignity and compassion.”

The ACLU and advocates for the homeless disagree, pointing to a recent rash of incidents when they say the police violated the agreement and harassed the homeless.

"It's simply not true that the city's treatment of the homeless bears no resemblance to the way the police treated the homeless in the years leading up to the lawsuit," said Benjamin Waxman, the volunteer ACLU attorney handling the case.

Waxman cited the city's biweekly "cleanups" conducted by its Homeless Assistance Program, the team of city employees who are supposed to work with people living on the streets. Homeless people have claimed harassment, telling the Miami New Times that city workers have tried to kick them out of certain areas and destroy their property — violations of the Pottinger agreement.

In one case, a woman arrested for obstructing the sidewalk later died in custody, which activists say was because she did not receive proper medical attention while under arrest.

"They’re simply making a crime of the fact that people do not have houses,” said David Peery, an advocate who is another plaintiff in the federal settlement.

Peery recently told the Miami Herald he believes that if the woman, Tabitha Bass, had been taken to a shelter and offered services, she would have received the medical attention she needed. Footage from the body camera worn by the officer who made the arrest, Carla Gonzalez, shows the officer did not give Bass a warning or offer her shelter before arresting her. This was a violation of the Pottinger agreement, Peery said, that he feels contributed to her ill health.

"I think everyone can agree this does not help someone who is fragile from a medical condition," he said.

On the other side of the debate, downtown residents have urged the city to ask the court to end Pottinger. Some have complained that the public defecation presents a public health issue and say police should not be hampered by additional rules when interacting with the homeless. Several told commissioners they believe the homeless who remain on the street are largely there because they want to be there.

In a prepared statement, the city argued that the decree hurts the city's ability to assist people living on the street.

"The Pottinger consent decree restricts the city from taking actions in situations such as the observation of a homeless person obstructing a sidewalk, or a homeless person urinating or defecating in public," reads the statement. "It also restricts the city from offering shelter beds that are available outside of the city of Miami. No other South Florida municipality faces such restrictions."

In the motion, Miami's city attorneys emphasize the demographic changes in downtown, suggesting that the arrival of new businesses, increase in tourist traffic and growth in residential and hotel developments are reasons the consent decree should be terminated.

The city attorneys also bring up the Sept. 11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing, arguing that the homeless protections could threaten public safety.

"Because of the Pottinger consent decree, however, the city police department's ability to carry out security-related investigations of what may or may not be homeless property is extremely limited, endangering the public at large," reads the motion.

If the judge doesn't agree to strike down the consent decree, the city is asking for some key changes. The proposed amendments would allow the city to take homeless who accept shelter to any available bed in Miami-Dade County — currently, Miami police are restricted to taking people only to shelters within city limits. Another proposed change would allow the city to classify some homeless people as "chronically homeless" and exempt them from Pottinger's protections.

"By remaining on the streets, there is a greater likelihood that chronically homeless individuals (particularly those who suffer from serious mental illness, substance abuse, or both) may engage in aggressive panhandling, theft or violent crimes," Miami attorneys wrote.

Peery said the issues of mental illness and drug addiction are concerns that are best addressed under the decree's rules, because the decree should force police to steer homeless individuals to health programs where they can get the help they need.

After the city filed its motion Wednesday, Waxman said he would file a motion to enforce the decree. The competing motions will force a federal judge to hear both sides before ruling on the matter, likely within a few weeks.

This list, while incomplete, shows just how much Ron Book collects from FL government agencies

The Miami Herald recently reported that the state had attempted to make contracts between lobbyists and state officials public, but there has been little enforcement of this law. Still, this is helpful to understand the reach of this corrupt lobbyist, as he has his hands in a lot of pockets.


https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/LD/PublicEntityContractDisclosure.aspx

Bal Harbour Village Ronald L. Book $60,000 per year
Brevard County Ronald L. Book $5,000 per month
Broward County Ronald L. Book $53,000
City of Aventura Ronald L. Book $52,500 per year
City of Cooper City Ronald L. Book $48,000 per year
City of Dania Beach Ronald L. Book $50,000 per year
City of Doral Ronald L. Book not to exceed $90,000 per year
City of Fort Lauderdale Ronald L. Book $97,500
City of Hallandale Beach Ronald L. Book $52,500
City of Marathon Ronald L. Book $60,000 per year
City of Marco Island Ronald L. Book not exceeding $60,000 per year
City of Miramar Ronald L. Book $60,000 per year
City of North Miami Ronald L. Book $6,666 per month
City of North Miami Beach Ronald L. Book $60,000 per year
City of Palm Bay Ronald L. Book $60,000 per year
City of Pinellas Park Ronald L. Book $62,000 per year
City of Sunny Isles Beach Ronald L. Book $65,000 per year
City of Sunrise Ronald L. Book $4,166.67 per month
City of Tallahassee Ronald L. Book $90,000 per year
City of Tamarac Ronald L. Book not exceeding $59,400
Miami-Dade County Ronald L. Book $120,000 per year
Miami-Dade County School Board Ronald L. Book not exceeding $240,000 for 36 months
North Broward Hospital District Ronald L. Book $50,000 per year
Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County Ronald L. Book not to exceed $190,000
South Broward Hospital District Ronald L. Book $8,333.33 per month
Town of Davie Ronald L. Book not exceeding $28,000 per year
Village of Palmetto Bay Ronald L. Book $4,000 per month
Village of Royal Palm Beach Ronald L. Book $50,000 per year

The Bookville Countywide tour continues

Apparently, the "solution" to the homeless registrant crisis is to force them to move constantly.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/content/printView/10376656

Police Now Shuffling Tent City Sex Offenders Around Miami-Dade
JESSICA LIPSCOMB | MAY 24, 2018 | 9:00AM

In 2009, California artist Scott Gairdner made the "Sex Offender Shuffle," a viral video parodying Miami-Dade's treatment of sex offenders. With a catchy beat and '80s-style cinematography, the four-minute spoof of the 1985 Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" mocked the way sex offenders are shuffled from one location to another under the guise of public safety.

Nine years later, the sex offender shuffle is playing out in real life in Miami-Dade. After being forced to leave a longtime encampment near Hialeah, a group of homeless sex offenders was kicked out of its new location near the airport over the weekend.

"There's no solution," says Frank Diaz, a pastor who ministers to the affected offenders. "They're just sweeping them from one place to another."

The evictions date back to March, when the county gave notice to about 100 homeless sex offenders living at an encampment alongside railroad tracks near Hialeah that they had until May 6 to vacate the area. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Legal Services of Greater Miami filed a lawsuit challenging the county's overnight camping ordinances but lost their first court hearing. The residents of "Tent City" were forced to leave in early May.

After the hearing, the offenders' lawyer, Jeffrey Hearne, accurately predicted the decision would simply create new encampments of homeless sex offenders.

"They'll most likely be relocating to another street corner," Hearne told the Miami Herald .

So in mid-May, a group of former Tent City residents moved to a location off NW 37th Avenue just northeast of Miami International Airport. But last weekend, Diaz says, police stationed themselves in the area and informed the offenders they couldn't stay there either.

"When I ask [the offenders] where they're going, they say, 'We don't know,'" Diaz tells New Times. "They've been split up as the Tent City that we saw, and now there's like four different locations where they're residing."

Many critics, including the ACLU, say the county's restrictive residency requirements are to blame. The Lauren Book Child Safety Ordinance — championed by Florida Sen. Lauren Book's father: Homeless Trust chair and mega-lobbyist Ron Book — prevents child sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of places where children congregate, such as schools and parks. (The rule is far more restrictive than the more standard statewide law requiring them to live 1,000 feet away.)

In a contentious interview earlier this month with CBS's Jim DeFede, Ron Book shifted the blame to the offenders by arguing they "shouldn't be homeless."

He told DeFede: "They need to work to find places to live."

Book later added he'd "be happy to encourage" life imprisonment for child sex offenders as an alternative to the current housing debacle.

Until a long-term solution is found, Tent City residents will continue to do the sex offender shuffle.

"They're in that limbo, and they keep being brushed away," Diaz says. "I'm not condoning their crimes, but we're humans. We've got to have a little bit of compassion. Let's find a place and put them in housing so they can have some kind of hope to return to society."

Lauren Book's paranoia about a silly kid's movie once again proves she is just too unstable to be a state senator

Lauren Book has been reduced to reading silly conspiracy theories online. Next, she'll be claiming PizzaGate is a real thing.

http://orlando-rising.com/lauren-book-controversial-show-dogs-sends-disturbing-message-kids-skip-box-office

Lauren Book: Controversial ‘Show Dogs’ sends disturbing message to kids — skip this at the box office
 Guest Author  05/22/2018  Latest Opinion, Opinions

Recent controversy surrounding the soon-to-be-released movie “Show Dogs” makes it clear that sexualized content — made worse under the guise of humor — has no place in children’s movies.

I am extremely alarmed by reports that a character in the movie was instructed to essentially tolerate having their private parts touched, sending a disturbing message to young moviegoers.

Bloggers who attended an advance screening rightly called out Hollywood for the inappropriate content in a movie targeting children. [Editor's note: Read-- Paranoid soccer moms who listen to braindead idiots like Lauren Book]

Show Dogs is about a police dog who goes undercover in a dog show to find a missing panda. Variety describes it as “’Miss Congeniality’ for dogs,” where the hero prepares to compete in a dog show by learning how to prance, show, and even stay completely still while his private parts are being inspected and touched — something he is alarmed about and does not wish to do.

The trainer explains this a natural part of showing dogs (and it is) and to go against his instincts by finding a “Zen place” as a distraction from the groping.

This has no place in a movie for children and parents should avoid taking their child to see it unless the scene is removed before its Friday release.

As parents, we know the influence media has on children. Our kids pick up behaviors and understandings from movies, YouTube videos and TV shows. Their minds constantly absorb the content with little to no understanding of the context. [Editor's note: This same principle applies to adults who blindly listen to people like Lauren Book and her ilk.]

In this case, it’s OK if someone touches your private parts because it’s part of the “show” and it’s just silly fun.

But it’s actually called grooming and is a frequent tactic used by predators to keep victims quiet, questioning their fear.

Child sexual abuse is a trauma experienced by an estimated 42 million people in the U.S. and the number grows daily. [Editor's Note: These estimates came from feminist sources from the late 1970s and are of questionable integrity]

One in three girls and one in five boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18, and 90 percent of these cases will be committed by a person the child — and their parents — know, love and trust.

Bravo to these self-described mama bear bloggers for sounding the alarm. From one mama to another, thank you.

I myself have not seen Show Dogs, but have read multiple reviews that clearly state this content in the movie.

Show Dogs releases Friday — don’t go.

If you were thinking about it, wait for additional information after opening weekend and make an educated decision about what is best for your children and family to help them stay safe. And if you do choose to take your children, use the opportunity to have a real and important conversation about listening to your guiding voice and speaking up when a touch or situation doesn’t feel right.

Reinforce that it’s ALWAYS OK to tell and seek help from a trusted adult.

Your kids have a voice — teach them to use it.

I know the Book Crime Family reads this blog religiously, so I'll just leave this here (Trigger warning, if you're a pansy, don't click the link. Pansy.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTb_MWZGHMk

Ron and Lauren Book: Unplugged and Unhinged

Ron and Lauren Book: Unplugged and Unhinged

A collection of clips about Ron and Lauren Book from various sources, put together, exposes Ron and Lauren Book as vindictive monsters abusing the law to cause harm to registered citizens in Miami.

Check out this video from LiveLeak:

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=uDwrL_1526695160

We figured Bovo the Clown had bigger political aspirations when he took Pepe Diaz's prime ass kissing spot

Wow what a shock, Esteban Bovo is trying to climb the political ladder. Looks like Pepe Le Pew Diaz needs to step up his game.

http://www.politicalcortadito.com/2018/05/02/double-agent-lobbyist-ron-book-gets-county-reprieve-mayoral-wannabe/

‘Double agent’ lobbyist Ron Book gets county reprieve from mayoral wannabe
By Ladra on May 2, 2018

Lobbyist Ron Book, who secretly worked against the Miami-Dade Commission during the last session in Tallahassee — even though we pay him to work for us — by sneaking puppy mill language into not one but two failed legislative bills, could have lost his juicy contract Tuesday to lobby for the county in Tallahassee because he didn’t request a waiver as required. See? Lobbyists are allowed to work against taxpayers on an issue, as long as they get a waiver from the county first.

Even if that did make any sense at all, it seems like Book would rather pedir perdon que pedir permiso. He did not seek a waiver when he worked for the Petland chain of stores this past session and against any municipality’s ability to regulate the sale of puppies from puppy mill breeders that put profits before the animals’ welfare and needs. Aventura, Margate and Hollywood all have local ordinances banning puppy mill sales that would immediately be null and void. Miami-Dade doesn’t have one — yet, because Ladra was told that one of the commissioners is writing an ordinance as you read this.

Read related: Animal activists beat Ron Book, squash 2 puppy mill bills in Tallahassee

A rule is a rule. And other lobbyists have been let go because of conflicting interests, most recently Ballard Partners because of their representation of Uber in Tallahassee while the ride sharing company was still hammering out regulation details in the 305. Several speakers urged the commission to deny Book a waiver after the fact.

“Mr. Book has acted as some sort of double agent getting money from both sides of an issue. Usually double agents work in secret with opposing sides,” said Michael Rosenberg, co-founder of the Pets’ Trust Miami, an initiative that passed a non-binding referendum in 2012 to fund a massive low-cost spay and neuter operation throughout the county.

“Mr. Book found a willing legislator to insert a few sentences hidden in a bill of over a hundred pages, whereby tangible property sold in stores would be beyond the control of the county. The tangible property was really describing dogs and cats because the client Mr. Book represents was also paying him to make sure Dade County commissioners and commissioners across the state could not restrict animal sales in retail stores in their communities,” Rosenberg said, adding that Book should not only NOT be given a waiver but should also have to make up for his lapse in judgement by working on pro-puppy legislation.

Truth is, the mercenary, er, I mean lobbyist clearly crossed the conflict of interests line.

But Book was given an 11th hour reprieve Tuesday when the item was deferred at the request of Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo, who said he wanted Book to be present to defend himself before any action was taken. There’s no hurry, he said, because Book — who skipped the meeting to be with another client even though he knew he was on the agenda — can’t stab them in the back again until next year, at the earliest.

Maybe the other client Book was meeting with was Petland, you know, to plan their 2019 strategy.

But the real reason that Bovo gave him a reprieve is because the chairman is running for mayor in 2020 and Book is known as a prolific fundraiser who was able to get his own daughter elected to Senate. Surely, Bovo will hold this out as long as he can so that he can squeeze Book for as much mayoral matrix moolah as he can.

Lucky for us, we have Commissioner Rebeca Sosa holding Book’s feet to the fire. She said she wants him back before the commission sooner rather than later to resolve this. Hopefully, she will put it on the agenda for the very next meeting.

“They were already working in Tallahassee this year without asking this commission for a waiver. I have a big problem with that,” Sosa said. “Either they work for the county, or they work for someone else.

“They are not here today. Why? When they knew this was on the agenda?”

Because Book is used to getting his way, even when he is not in chambers. Because there’s always someone who wants to be mayor.

  Esteban Bovo, Pet’s Trust, Ron Book

Ron Book won't be allowed to kick puppies in Miasma-Dade but he'll still be allowed to kick humans around

This hasn't been a good week for Ronnie. Not only did he get embarrassed on TV, he was unanimously shut down by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. If there was ever any more needed proof Miasma-Dade's registrants are treated worse than animals, this is it.

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article211179839.html

Lobbyist Ron Book tends to get his way in Miami-Dade, but this time it's a No.
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
May 15, 2018 11:58 PM

dhanks@miamiherald.com

Miami-Dade commissioners unanimously rejected county lobbyist Ron Book's request for a waiver to represent pet stores that had pushed state lawmakers to block local regulations of puppy sales.

The 12 to 0 vote represented a rare rejection for Book before the commission, which has consistently waived term-limit and residency requirements to allow the powerful lobbyist to remain the volunteer head of the county's homeless board. Book represents dozens of local governments in Tallahassee, including Miami-Dade, as well as private-sector clients.

Near the end of the 2018 legislative session, he requested a waiver for him and two lobbyists to represent a group tied to the Petland pet-store chain while also being paid by Miami-Dade County. The waiver came as Petland sought state legislation that would have blocked local governments like Miami-Dade from regulating puppy sales, pursuing the kind of preemption of county lawmaking that Miami-Dade commissioners routinely fume about when discussing Tallahassee.

"I'm not going to cede any power to the state," Commissioner Dennis Moss said Tuesday before voting to follow the recommendation of the county's Ethics Commission and reject Book's wavier request.

The commission was set to vote on the waiver at its last meeting, but Chairman Esteban "Steve" Bovo postponed the decision because Book wasn't there to defend himself in person. Book also did not attend Tuesday's meeting. The commission voted to deny the waiver for him and two county lobbyists Book hired for the pet-store matter, Nelson Diaz and Sean Pittman.

"We love our animals and we set our rules," said Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who sponsored the item denying the waiver. In a text message, Book said he can still represent the pet-store industry in Tallahassee, as long as he doesn't advocate for any legislation that would preempt local laws. Book, based in Aventura, earned $120,000 last year on his county lobbying contract.

Activists for local laws banning most sales of puppies and kittens seized on Book's representation of Florida Pet Retailers as a slap in the face to Miami-Dade's efforts to boost adoption of shelter animals.

"I hope the county's unanimous vote will be the standard for all local governments who hire state lobbyists like Mr. Book," said Michele Lazarow, the vice mayor of Hallandale Beach and president of the Animal Defense Coalition, which lobbied against the state bill and helped pass local puppy-sale bans across Florida. "Lobbyists shouldn't be able to profit from both sides."