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.

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."

Book Crime Family supports puppy mills too? Is there any living creature the Books won't bully into submission?

I am starting to think that Ron Book and his bimbo daughter engage in atrocities because they enjoy watching ll manners of God's creatures suffer, be it man or beast.

The Book Crime Family is evil in every sense of the word, and they are disgusting proof there is no God. And knowing the wicked Books like I do, I would not be surprised if he kicks puppies for sport.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article209813504.html

Pet-store industry paying county's lobbyist to block local 'puppy mill' regulations

BY DOUGLAS HANKS

dhanks@miamiherald.com

April 27, 2018 08:53 PM

Updated April 28, 2018 09:54 AM

This year, a corporation tied to a chain of puppy stores paid lobbyist Ron Book to try to block local governments from enacting "puppy mill" laws severely limiting retail sales of dogs and cats.

The targets of that proposed state law: the more than two dozen local governments Book also represents in Tallahassee as one of the leading paid lobbyists in the state.

The legislative effort to block local restrictions on pet stores failed before the 2018 Legislature ended its session on March 11, but 2019 offers another chance for one Book client to triumph over the others. Now Book may be forced to choose sides, at least in Miami-Dade. Book is asking county commissioners to approve a waiver allowing his firm to represent the pet-store industry while collecting more than $100,000 a year as one of Miami-Dade's official lobbyists.

"I have worked hard, at the local levels to oppose the banning of the sale of puppies and kittens," Book wrote in a March 2 letter to Jess McCarty, the Miami-Dade lawyer who oversees the county's private lobbyists and their roughly $350,000 retainer. Book cited the since-failed state legislation that would ban city and county rules on pet sales, saying it would "reverse the trend of abolishing the sale of puppies and kittens locally."

Miami-Dade has some minor pet-store restrictions on the books, but hasn't enacted the kind of sweeping ban adopted by other Book clients, including Aventura, Miami Beach and North Miami. But at least one commissioner, Daniella Levine Cava, has said publicly she wants to propose one. And the county's Ethics Commission, which regulates parts of the lobbying industry, is urging the county to reject Book's waiver, citing Miami-Dade's long-running efforts to protect local law-making against limits from Tallahassee.

"You're going to have a well-known lobbyist taking a position different from the position the county is taking," said Joe Centorino, the outgoing director of the ethics commission. "It really undermines the county's position, and raises the question of the seriousness of the county's position."

The Book waiver meshes one of the most volatile issues in county politics — protecting shelter animals — with one of the most influential figures in county politics. Along with being a top source of campaign donations, Book essentially runs the county's homeless agency as the demanding volunteer chairman of an oversight board. The commission has granted him multiple waivers to defy term-limit rules and be exempt from a residency requirement to keep his volunteer post as chairman of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust while living in Broward.

The lobbying waiver could be more complicated. Advocates for shelter animals, including the Pets Trust group, are some of the most vocal in county government. They're branding Book an opponent to the county's long-standing efforts to boost adoptions at the county's animal shelter — where the motto is "Adopt, Don't Shop" — and reduce the number of euthanized animals to nearly zero.

"Ron Book is trying to open the floodgates," 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. "Sixty cities and counties do not want that commerce. Ron Book is fighting to allow that commerce to flourish."

Book said the effort to block local pet-store rules was an unexpected turn in his client's legislative strategy this year. He also positioned his defense of pet-store sales as protecting consumer choice. Citing the larger number of pit bulls and similar breeds at Miami-Dade's animal shelter, Book said sales of puppies from breeders give more options in a free market. "I don't choose that experience for my children and my grandchildren," Book said of having a pit bull as a pet.

"Don't dictate what kind of pet someone buys for themselves or their children," he said. "We don't live in Venezuela. We don't live in Cuba."

Book's Tallahassee client is Florida Pet Retailers, a for-profit company led by Luis Marquez, who also owns multiple franchises of Petland, a chain that sells puppies in Miami-Dade and Broward.

Miami-Dade commissioners have rejected waivers in the past. In 2015, Ballard Partners wanted permission to represent Uber in Tallahassee as the ride-hailing company pushed for the state to block the kind of local Uber rules that Miami-Dade was trying to pass. Commissioners said no, and Ballard dropped the county as a client.

Book's Aventura lobbying firm earned about $120,000 from its county lobbying contract last year, and is asking for $175,000 in 2018. The proposed waiver covers him and two lobbyists Book hired for the pet-store work: Nelson Diaz and Sean Pittman.

In his letter to Miami-Dade, Book minimized his role in the Tallahassee puppy-sales wars. "There is a lobbying team that is assembled that I am overseeing," he said. "I am working to avoid actual lobbying, but I am supervising the lobbying team."

Berlin had the Brown Shirts; Miami has the Green Shirts

Are you aware that Miami has been one of the meanest cities in America for years? Are you aware that Miami has actually tried to overturn a law protecting the homeless from status-based arrests at least as far back as 2013?

If anyone has doubts that Ron Book is bullying the homeless, look at the parallel story on the Green Shirts harassing and destroying the property of homeless Miamians.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-sex-offenders-face-arrest-with-closure-of-encampment-on-may-6-10299920

Updated: Miami-Dade Will Close Sex Offender Camp by May 6, Threatens Jail Time for Stragglers
JESSICA LIPSCOMB | APRIL 27, 2018 | 8:00AM

In December, after New Times published its latest story chronicling the squalid conditions of the camp and its effect on local business owners, Miami-Dade's Public Safety and Health Committee took action. With a vote of 3-1, commissioners on the committee voted to amend an outdoor camping ordinance in a way that would effectively shut down the camp. The rest of the county commission passed the item in January, and Mayor Carlos Gimenez in March issued a memo giving the homeless residents 45 days to vacate.

With the May 6 deadline quickly approaching, outreach groups have been working with the sex offenders to find new places to live. But thanks to stringent local laws governing where sex offenders can live, many homeless advocates worry they have few alternatives to their camp near the intersection of NW 71st Street and 36th Court. According to the mayor's letter, Miami-Dade Police officers have the option to "remove" those who stay, a clause that refers to a local law permitting police to arrest those who trespass on county property.

"The message being given to the people living there is if you're there on May 7, that you'll be subject to arrest," says Jeffrey Hearne, an attorney with Legal Services who has represented residents of the camp.

As many as 300 sex offenders have a registered address at or near the encampment, according to state records. Under a 2005 county law ordinance named for Lauren Book, a Florida senator and survivor of child sex abuse, offenders who abused victims under the age of 16 must live 2,500 feet from any school, much farther than the 1,000 feet required under state law.

A 2017 report commissioned by the ACLU found that across the county, only 320 affordable rental units met those guidelines.

Since August, the Homeless Trust, its chairman Ron Book (Lauren's father), and the Housing Assistance Network of Dade have been distributing information about rental assistance to the homeless offenders who live at the camp. But other homeless advocates say the assistance is no good if the offenders can't find a landlord who will rent them a home.

"Many people there would love to accept that rental assistance, but they have not been able to find the housing which would permit them to accept it," the ACLU's Jeanne Baker told commissioners in December.

As the deadline looms, it remains unclear what will become of the people who stay behind at the camp. Frank Diaz, a pastor who works with the homeless residents, says probation officers are encouraging some offenders to move near the Krome Service Processing Center at the edge of the Everglades.

"They have been told starting May 6, whoever remains is gonna be taken away, have all their possessions thrown away, and possibly be arrested," Diaz says.

The Miami-Dade Police Department has not yet answered New Times' questions about what will happen after the deadline.

Update: Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for Miami-Dade Police, says the department’s sexual predator unit is aware of the memorandum and is monitoring the situation to determine a plan of action come May 6.

“We’re hoping everyone gets placed and everything works itself out between the county and them,” he says. “The memo says we are the last resort. We want to make sure that is the case.”

No formal directive has been issued yet because it’s still unclear if or how many offenders will remain at the camp after the deadline.

“The last thing we want is to have to take any enforcement,” Zabaleta says. “It just depends how everything lays out between now and May 6. It’s hard for us to have a plan of action if we don’t know how things are going to go.”

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/video-shows-miami-green-shirts-destroying-homeless-property-violating-pottinger-agreement-10292474

Video Shows City Workers Destroying Property of Homeless Miamians
TARPLEY HITT | APRIL 25, 2018 | 8:31AM

The morning of April 17, Wilbur Cauley left all of his belongings in their usual place: stacked by a fence under the I-395 overpass at NW First Court and 13th Street. It was in the middle of a four-block area where about 30 homeless Miamians live. That morning, Cauley, an Army veteran in his late 50s who served three years in Germany, went to a nearby store for a soda. When he returned, he says, a man in a dark-green shirt was kicking bags that contained Cauley's birth certificate, driver's license, clothes, bedding, and even the food he keeps on hand to avoid diabetic shock.

"I said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' and I tried to get my stuff," Cauley recalls. "But the guy wouldn't let me get anything. He grabbed my arm and then he took all my stuff... They threw it all away. They took everything I have."

Cauley's version of events is supported by photos, video footage, and testimony from a half-dozen eyewitnesses, including Benji Waxman, a Miami lawyer and volunteer at the American Civil Liberties Union, and David Peery, a local activist who has experienced homelessness himself. Waxman and Peery have been involved in homelessness advocacy in Miami for years, and they say tensions between the city and locals have spiked in recent months.

Cauley’s antagonist was a member of the Miami Homeless Assistance Program, a group also known as "green shirts” because of their signature forest-green uniforms. The program, staffed partially by former homeless men and women, is tasked with providing aid and services to the area's homeless population. Over the years, the green shirts have been both praised for their hard work and criticized for harassing and even stealing from the very people they are supposed to help.

Now, Peery and Waxman say, they are at it again — conducting biweekly "cleanups" of areas where homeless people congregate, damaging property, and throwing away people's belongings. Waxman says the green shirts, police officers, and workers from several other city departments have mounted an aggressive campaign across Miami to chase homeless people out of the areas where they live. According to Cauley, the city has been “cleaning up” the First Court area twice a week for almost six months — acting in what Waxman and Peery claim is a direct violation of the famous South Florida federal court decision Pottinger v. City of Miami.

The historic class-action lawsuit was filed in 1988 by a group of 6,000 homeless people against the City of Miami. The plaintiffs, then led by a man named Michael Pottinger, and now by Peery, argued the city had criminalized homelessness by prosecuting people for misdemeanors they could not avoid committing — such as sleeping, bathing, or building a fire for warmth. “You cannot make a person an outlaw just because they don’t have a home,” Peery says.

When the case was settled a decade later, the judge set in place certain agreements between the City of Miami and the homeless population. Homeless individuals are now protected under the Pottinger agreement from being arrested for performing necessary, life-sustaining activities in public. Instead, the city must offer shelter and services before evacuating certain areas.

The decision includes another key stipulation: City officials may not seize or damage the belongings of homeless people unless they pose an obvious threat to public health. But Cauley, Waxman, and Peery say that’s exactly what the green shirts were doing April 17.

The city has a different story. “All property and people are treated with dignity and respect,” says Eugene Ramirez, director of communications for the City of Miami. “If our outreach staff finds any documents in clean-up areas, they collect them and bring them to the office for safekeeping. They leave a notice where the property is found so people can come collect their items.”

Ron Book, who runs the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, says the county is working with the City of Miami to reduce homelessness. “Our goal is to be as aggressive as we can to encourage people to take housing,” Book says. “I am aware that there have been street cleanings to try to clear the streets.”

Many green shirts go to great lengths to ensure the well-being of their clients — Ramirez claims they collect items to protect them from damage during street cleaning. But Cauley responds that some of the outreach personnel go out of their way to harass the homeless community, such as conducting street cleanings at ungodly hours (as early as 3 a.m.), waking residents while they sleep, and forcing people out of public areas without offering another place to go.

“It’s total harassment,” he says. “Even if you’re sitting on the curb and nothing is behind you, they’ll say you’re blocking the sidewalk. You have to sit up against the fence like you’re in the military or something.”

So what exactly happened the morning of April 17? According to Waxman, six green shirts arrived in the area around 8:30 a.m. They came with several police officers, a handful of Neighborhood Enhancement Team  members, and a parade of cleaning vehicles: a dump truck, a water pressure cleaner, three or four pickup trucks, and a street sweeper. The group stood around for a while, surveying the scene, and about an hour later, one of the green shirts announced the cleanup would begin.

"He walked up the middle of NW 1st Court and loudly ordered everyone to move their possessions immediately," Peery wrote in a complaint letter to the city. "When they walked up to Wilbur Cauley's possessions — bedding, clothes, a backpack and sheets that were stacked neatly against a fence — the large male Greenshirt shouted ‘Okay, now we're going to throw your shit away!’”

Peery filmed the incident on his phone. The video shows the green shirt moving Cauley’s possessions into a pile in the middle of the sidewalk and throwing other items on top. A woman on the sidewalk screams at the official and tells him to stop stealing her things. The man ignores her — he kicks and throws more stuff onto the pile. Only one person in the video is able to retrieve something from the pile. Others photos shows the same green shirt standing over and blocking Cauley’s stuff.

In all, Cauley lost every piece of identification he had, including his veteran bus card and his social security card. Losing your ID is always a nightmare, but it’s especially horrible if you’re homeless. Any shelter he might visit or any job he might apply for requires ID.

Peery says these regular cleanups are a less-than-subtle way of herding homeless people away from popular congregating spots.

“The campaign is working,” Peery says. “I went down to Lot 16 the other day, and no one was there.” Lot 16 is an area south of the Main Library and east of the Miami River, where some 50 or 60 homeless people used to live. After the city began conducting regular street cleanings, Peery says, everyone relocated. “And it’s happening here too. You see today, people have already left.”

The Pottinger settlement did leave in place a mediation clause — where plaintiffs can request meetings with the city over perceived violations of the agreement. Peery and Waxman requested a mediation, and one was scheduled for the morning of April 24. There is no report yet on the outcome.

“I’m hoping to convince the mediator of three things,” Peery says. “Number one, to tell the city to please stop. Number two, to compensate people for all the possessions they have lost. And number three, to please guarantee this won’t happen again.”

There has never been been a better time to use this graphic

Book Crime Family & the Miami-Dade County wants the homeless to move out to the Everglades, where there are absolutely NO resources within 2 miles of the facility, except a casino

The lowdown on Lauren Book's personal crusade against anti-registry activism & state of the Anti-Registry Movement

The true story behind the controversial "protection order" against Anti-Registry Movement activist Derek Logue is only one of the things Senator Lauren Book has tried to stymie the efforts of the Anti-Registry Movement over the past year. So far this year, we have seen the Book family assist the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners pass a local ordinance to arrest homeless registrants for being unable to find housing, as well as introduce HB 1301, intended to lower the time registered citizens can be in the state without registering. 

Since Derek Logue does at least a fair amount of the posting here, it seems silly to do a sit-down interview, so instead, we've invited him to just write something about this entire lawsuit ordeal and the rest of Senator Book's efforts to kill his activist efforts. 

On the Lawsuit

"First off, I'd like to mention that Lauren Book, or even Ron Book for that matter, came up with the idea to drag me to court. The lawsuit mentions getting a call from Ken Rau, who is a member of Parents For Megan's Law in Long Island (and some say is Laura Ahearn's rich boyfriend who helped fund her through law school), that other group trying to sue me in court. They told the Books about the Twitter posts and then told them to sue me, but since I don't have money and can't be intimidated by suing me for money I don't have, they decided to file a 'protection from abuse' order. 

In July, I received an 'anonymous' PM on Twitter from someone using the pseudonym Garl Pinkerton. He wrote, "Derek, I hear you are in a bit of a bind in Broward County.  What's your plan to dodge this?" It didn't take me long to figure out it came from someone connected to the Book family. It does not make sense to a reasonable man why someone would file a "protection from abuse" order against someone who is not in a relationship with someone or stalking anyone. However, her lawyer let it slip in court that they filed this protection order specifically because they knew suing me for money would not shut me up. A protection order would not stop my efforts against her, either, since aside from the Tribeca festival and the Rally in Tally, I haven't been anywhere near her. 

The truth is the Book family is desperate to stop my efforts because people are paying attention to them. This entire lawsuit was a Hail Mary pass intended to end my participation in a BBC film that I ended up not being left out of in the first place (which I suspect was at least partly the fault of the Book family. This isn't the first time that the Books have used their power and influence on film projects, just look at how our movement got screwed in the Untouchable film. Did you notice there were no interviews with any real anti-registry activists in that film? Feige sold out because he cared more about selling a story than telling the truth, and that is why I think his film is trash. 

Some of the Book family's tactics against me constitute harassment. Their representatives have called my registration office multiple times in a failed attempt to get me in trouble. PFML has tried the same tactic as well. One of them had called my registration office back in July, wanting me to get in trouble for calling them a "cunt." Whoever called claimed to be a State Senator from NY. Well, I have called people cunts in the past, among other things, but I did not know any state Senators or have spoken to one, so I had an idea that either PFML reps or Lauren Book called my registration office. It did not get the desired result, because calling someone a cunt might piss someone off but it is not a crime. 

This entire lawsuit is just an attempt to intimidate me. While the lawsuit is ongoing, there isn't any evidence that would make a reasonable person say there is "stalking" going on. Lauren Book is a public figure, and public criticism of her is not stalking. They issued a court summons to drag me to court just so I could testify that every retweet of news articles criticizing her, every post someone made online she did not like, and every comment others posted in response to my sharing of news articles were introduced as 'evidence' of 'stalking.' Then I got questioned about how OnceFallen.com is funded; I'd love an explanation as to why that is relevant."

"I'd be shocked if Lauren wins her suit, seeing as how there is nothing to suggest a threat of any kind against her, but then again, she is banking on prejudice against those on the registry rather than actual facts." 

On reaction to the lawsuit:

"Speaking of funds and support for OnceFallen, I've always been disappointed in the lack of support for the work I do, including not participating in research surveys I conduct or joining me in public awareness campaigns. If anyone thinks I findraise to make a profit, they are sorely mistaken. So I'm not surprised at all that a number of people who are supposedly anti-registry bashed me and campaigned against me once word of the lawsuit got out. Yet, the same people who bashed me because I cuss on occasion threw their support behind someone whose son was in an FBI standoff  and wanted to make excuses for that guy. That pisses me off to no end. Ultimately, if I quit fighting for the rights of former offenders, it will be because of these folks and not people like Book.

Support was down in 2017 yet requests for assistance has gone up considerably. I continue to offer what many other websites don't do-- offer info to help people find housing, employment and support services. Fighting the laws are important, but people are't able to help when they are too busy trying to find a house and a job. But for 2018, I'll be slowing down my efforts due to the low level of support. I want to do more. Someone should have been down in Miami besides an ACLU attorney testifying against the Miami ordinance. Where were the registrant activists? I wanted to go but my finances are in bad shape. The Books are aware of my lack of funds and are trying to win by attrition." 

On lawsuits in general:

"I am tired of seeing laws pass because it seems folks just want to wait for a lawyer to save us. Lawsuits are expensive. I am very fortunate to have someone paying for attorneys in my battle with PFML and an attorney representing me pro bono in the idiotic Book suit, but do you realize that the PFML lawsuit bill is already at $30k and I am STILL awaiting my day in court!. Imagine how much more costly a class action would be with a team of lawyers. Fighting bills before they become law is far less expensive, folks. It takes some of your time to do it, but bills pass because if no one opposes them, the belief is that everyone wants this law and it passes. Instead of having a bunch of lazy fools waiting on money to fall from the sky so we can fund expensive litigation, we need to fill up legislative halls with people opposing bad legislation." 

On the Book family and their personal crusade:

"People are mad because I call the Books names, but they call us monsters, incurable, creeping crud, and ticking time bombs. They have repeatedly called my registration office in attempts to intimidate me. Obviously, they are trying to use the courts for the same purpose. They are primarily responsible for forcing so many of Miami's registrant homeless population into homelessness. And as Senator, Lauren Book is trying to pass more legislation to stop us from speaking out against her. 

Book's HB 1301 is nothing but a thinly-veiled effort to stop anti-registry activists from organizing. Since Floridians aren't standing up for themselves, I and many of those who attended my Rally in Tally in 2015 were from out-of-state. This bill serves no purpose but to limit our rights to engage in peaceful demonstrations. That should be painfully obvious.

Senator Book should be brought up on ethics charges. She has done absolutely nothing useful in her time as Senator, save giving herself millions of dollars while sitting on Appropriations subcommittees. Of course, it should come as no shock that her only bills are against those on the registry. She is a very vindictive, evil person and is the worst kind of politician you can have in office. She should be challenged by more people, but it seems I'm the only one not afraid to take her down."