CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...Crist was charged with
possession of a driver license without the required designation
and for tampering with evidence (by attempting to scratch off the
sticker).
Crist moved to have the statutes requiring the SEXUAL
PREDATOR designation (sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141
(3)(a), Florida Statutes) declared unconstitutional as applied to
him....
...one means of protecting vulnerable children from those who may
desire to sexually abuse them? Of course it is.
Yet, remarkably, the majority in its ill-conceived opinion
concludes otherwise and declares unconstitutional sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141(3)(a), Florida Statutes (2021).
Undeterred by the long-standing and strong presumption that
duly enacted Florida statutes are constitutional, the majority
races into a dangerously wayward opinion that ends in a
repugnant result with deleterio...
...her.” By the terms of the plea, Crist was designated a sexual
predator and sentenced to 8 years in prison followed by 17 years
of sex-offender probation.
Upon release from prison, Crist began serving the sex-
offender probation portion of his sentence. By operation of section
322.141(3)(a), Florida Statutes, Crist’s Florida driver license was
to bear the marking “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” While Crist was on
probation, a law enforcement officer went to Crist’s residence to
conduct a registration check and verify hi...
...Crist was
arrested.
Crist was charged with violation of section
322.212(5)(c),
Florida Statutes, and attempted tampering with evidence. As a
result of these charges, he also was alleged to have violated his
probation. Crist filed his motion asking the trial court to declare
sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141(3)(a) unconstitutional....
...Stat., and public-notification
procedures. See §
775.21(7), Fla. Stat.
Further, a Florida driver license or identification card issued
to a designated sexual predator “shall have on the front of the
license or identification card . . . the marking ‘SEXUAL
PREDATOR.’” §
322.141(3)(a), Fla....
...the driver license issued to him by the Florida Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is unconstitutional because
it compels his speech in violation of the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution. I disagree.
To determine the constitutionality of sections
322.141(3)(a)
and
322.212(5)(c), we must resolve two issues....
...of the licensee, to include
his sex and height; and the dates of issuance and expiration of
the license. A license is also required to be signed by the licensee
and identify the class of vehicle he may operate. See §
322.14(1),
Fla. Stat.; see also §
322.141, Fla....
...Sexual predators,
however, present an even greater threat to the community given
the nature of their offenses and the targeting of vulnerable
children. Perhaps the requirements of Florida statutes—that a
sexual offender be identified on his driver license by statute
section number, see § 322.141(3)(b), Fla....
...No
person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers
appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly
provided herein.”); see also generally Arts. I–III, U.S. Const.
III.
As sections 322.215(5)(c) and 322.141, Florida Statutes, are
plainly constitutional and do not violate Crist’s right to speech
6 Public sunlight may well cause Crist a sense of shame for
the repeated and abhorrent acts of abuse he perpetrated on his
victim in the darkness of isolation....
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...ssee, for
Appellee.
August 15, 2025
ON REHEARING EN BANC
PRATT, J.
Florida law requires that Michael Crist’s driver license state
a truth about his criminal history: he is a “SEXUAL PREDATOR.”
§ 322.141(3)(a), Fla....
...entification
cards that the State issues to persons with a history of certain sex
offenses. For sexual offenders, licenses and cards must bear the
marking, “943.0435, F.S.”—a reference to Florida’s sexual-offender
registration statute. See §§
322.141(3)(b),
943.0435, Fla. Stat. For
sexual predators, the licenses and cards must bear the marking,
“SEXUAL PREDATOR.” See id. §
322.141(3)(a)....
...8, 2025); see
22 U.S.C. § 212b.
3
had been altered, as well as with evidence-tampering (for
attempting to remove the sticker). Crist moved the trial court to
declare unconstitutional as applied to his prosecution
sections
322.141(3)(a) and
322.212(5)(c)—the marked-license
requirement for sexual predators....
...It is the
appellant’s burden to show we must reverse, and he cannot meet
that burden without overcoming all bases for affirmance.”
(citations omitted)).
***
For the foregoing reasons, we reject Crist’s as-applied First
Amendment challenge to sections
322.141(3)(a) and
322.212(5)(c),
and we affirm his conviction.
AFFIRMED.
JAY, C.J., and EISNAUGLE, BOATWRIGHT, KILBANE, and MACIVER,
JJ., concur.
EISNAUGLE, J., concurs with opinion in which PRATT, J., concurs.
KILBANE, J., concurs with opini...
...the public highways of
the state” and “[d]iscourage repetition of criminal action by
individuals against the peace and dignity of the state”). In 2007,
Florida began placing a designated marking on licenses of
convicted sexual predators.2 See § 322.141(3)(a), Fla....
...The Department
continues to issue licenses for the State of Florida today. See §
322.02(2), Fla. Stat. (2019).
2 Initially, Florida adopted a driver license designation for
sexual predators that merely referenced The Florida Sexual
Predators Act as follows: “775.21, F.S.” See §
322.141(3)(a), Fla.
Stat. (2007). Seven years later, the designation was changed to
the current marking: “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” See §
322.141,
Fla....
...When an individual
with sexual predator status is living in the community—i.e., not
incarcerated—he or she must obtain, if qualified, either an
identification card or driver license with the sexual predator
designation within 48 hours of registration. See §
775.21(6)(f),
Fla. Stat.; see also id. §
322.141(3)....
...reached in my dissent thereto. As a result, I concur with the en
banc majority’s decision—which affirms the trial court’s denial of
Appellant Michael Crist’s motion to dismiss the charges against
him and upholds as constitutional sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141(3)(a), Florida Statutes....
...plea, Crist was
designated a sexual predator and sentenced to 8 years in prison
followed by 17 years of sex-offender probation.
Upon release from prison, Crist began serving the sex-
offender probation portion of his sentence. By operation of section
322.141(3)(a), Florida Statutes, Crist’s Florida driver license was
to bear the marking “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” While Crist was on
probation, a law enforcement officer went to Crist’s residence to
conduct a registration check and verify his current address....
...Crist was arrested.
Crist was charged with violation of section
322.212(5)(c),
Florida Statutes, and attempted tampering with evidence. As a
result of these charges, he also was alleged to have violated his
probation. Crist filed his motion asking the trial court to declare
sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141(3)(a) unconstitutional....
...Stat., and public-notification procedures, see §
775.21(7), Fla. Stat.
Further, a Florida driver license or identification card issued
to a designated sexual predator “shall have on the front of the
license or identification card . . . the marking ‘SEXUAL
PREDATOR.’” §
322.141(3)(a), Fla....
...Safety and Motor Vehicles is unconstitutional because it compels
45
his speech in violation of the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution. His argument fails.
To determine the constitutionality of sections
322.141(3)(a)
and
322.212(5)(c), we must resolve two issues....
...description of the licensee, to include his sex and height; and the
dates of issuance and expiration of the license. A license is also
required to be signed by the licensee and identify the class of
vehicle he may operate. See §
322.14(1), Fla. Stat.; see also §
322.141, Fla....
...Sexual
predators, however, present an even greater threat to the
community given the nature of their offenses and the targeting of
vulnerable children. Perhaps the requirements of Florida
statutes—that a sexual offender be identified on his driver license
by statute section number, see § 322.141(3)(b), Fla....
...No person
belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to
either of the other branches unless expressly provided herein.”);
see also Arts. I–III, U.S. Const.
III.
As sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141(3)(a), Florida Statutes,
are plainly constitutional and do not violate Crist’s right to speech
secured by the First Amendment, the trial court correctly denied
his motion.
54
Case No....
...Crist was charged with
possession of a driver license without the required designation
and for tampering with evidence (by attempting to scratch off the
sticker).
Crist moved to have the statutes requiring the SEXUAL
PREDATOR designation (sections
322.212(5)(c) and
322.141
(3)(a), Florida Statutes) declared unconstitutional as applied to
him....
