A battle about the constitutionality of a state requirement that convicted sexual predators have the words “SEXUAL PREDATOR” on their driver’s licenses has gone to the Florida Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Michael Crist, who was accused in 2019 of trying to cover up the sexual-predator designation on his license, filed a notice last week that is a first step in asking the Supreme Court to review an Aug. 15 ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal that upheld the requirement.
Crist’s attorneys contended at the appeals court that requiring the designation violated First Amendment rights. As is common, the newly filed notice does not detail arguments they will make at the Supreme Court.
Crist, now 50, was released from prison in 2008 after serving a sentence for a conviction on charges of attempted sexual battery on a child under age 12 and lewd and lascivious molestation, according to court documents. He was on probation in Sumter County after being released and had the sexual-predator designation on his driver’s license.
In 2019, a probation officer asked to see the license and noticed Crist trying to scratch off what a court document described as a “happy face emoji” sticker that covered the words SEXUAL PREDATOR. Crist was charged with possession of a driver’s license without the required designation and attempted evidence tampering and was ultimately sent back to prison.
Crist argued that the required sexual-predator designation on his license was compelled government speech that violated First Amendment rights.
But the appeals court rejected the argument.
“Any reasonable observer will understand that it’s the state’s message that Crist is a sexual predator, just as it’s the state’s message that he is licensed to drive in Florida and has a certain ‘date of birth, height, weight, or eye color.’” Judge Jordan Pratt wrote, partially quoting another legal ruling. “And by marking Crist’s license — a personal identification card normally hidden from public view — rather than his front yard, office entrance, business advertisements, personal vehicle, or custom website, the state has not compelled Crist to publicly display or disseminate its message.”
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But Judge Scott Makar, in a dissenting opinion, said compelled government speech has limits, including whether it is done in the “least restrictive” way to advance the government’s interests. Makar pointed to rulings by the Louisiana Supreme Court and an Alabama federal court in similar cases as supporting the “conclusion that the SEXUAL PREDATOR designation is not narrowly tailored or the least restrictive means.”
Makar wrote, for example, that the state could use a statute number or other code on driver’s licenses to identify people as sexual predators. It uses a statute number on the driver’s licenses of sex offenders, whose crimes differ from people considered predators.
Former state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, a Broward County Democrat who is a prominent advocate for preventing child sexual abuse, praised last month’s ruling. Book, who was a sexual-abuse victim, helped lead efforts to get the driver’s license designation requirement before she became a lawmaker.
“This law was never about punishment — it is about prevention and protection,” Book said after the ruling. “Sexually violent predators commit the most heinous crimes against our most vulnerable, and communities deserve the ability to identify these dangerous individuals on their driver's licenses as a community safety tool.”
Crist is an inmate at Marion Correctional Institution, with a potential release date of October 2036, according to information on the Florida Department of Corrections website.
