Florida can keep ‘sexual predator’ marking on driver’s licenses, appeals court rules

Florida can continue branding convicted sexual predators on their driver’s licenses.

In a divided ruling, the 5th District Court of Appeal has upheld the constitutionality of requiring state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards to have “SEXUAL PREDATOR” stamped on them if the holder has been convicted of such a crime.

The ruling reverses an earlier panel’s action striking down the law as unconstitutional compelled speech.

In a 31-page opinion issued Friday, Judge Jordan Pratt wrote that the designation represents the state’s message, not the individual’s, and does not force offenders to “publicly display or disseminate the message” beyond ordinary license checks.

By marking a license, a “personal identification card normally hidden from public view,” Pratt reasoned, the state does not cross a line into unconstitutional compelled speech.

“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,'” Pratt wrote.

“And by marking Crist’s license … 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.”

The challenge to Florida’s sexual predator ID marking was brought by a man named Michael Crist, who in 2002 pleaded no contest to attempted sexual battery on a child under 12 and lewd and lascivious molestation.

After his 2008 release, Crist was placed on probation and issued a license marked “SEXUAL PREDATOR.” His probation officer discovered in 2019 that he had placed a smiley-face sticker covering the designation. Crist was then charged with possessing a license without the required designation and with evidence tampering, leading to his return to prison.

Crist, now 50 and incarcerated at Marion Correctional Institute until 2036, argued the ID label requirement violated his First Amendment rights by compelling him to carry and present government speech.

Friday’s ruling, for now, removes the uncertainty created by the split decision in January. But Crist could seek review from the Florida Supreme Court.

The 5th District’s en banc court — where all the Judges of the court, rather than a smaller panel, consider and decide a case — overturned a January panel decision, where Judges Scott Makar and F. Rand Wallis agreed with Crist that the state statute in question was unconstitutional because it was not narrowly tailored. The ruling relied, in part, on similar cases in Louisiana and Alabama, where courts struck down similar laws.

This time, a majority of Judges — including Chief Judge Harvey Jay and Judges Joe Boatwright, Eric Eisnaughle, John Harris, Paige Kilbane and John MacIver — joined Pratt’s opinion upholding the law.

Judge Adrian Soud, who dissented in January, wrote in a concurring opinion that Florida driver’s license holders possess “no ‘editorial control’ over what information is contained on the license.”

“To permit the holder of a Florida driver license to add to or alter its contents based on the whim or preference of the holder would diminish the license as a means of government-issued identification,” he wrote.

Makar again dissented, joined by Wallis, reiterating that Florida already operates extensive registration and notification systems for sex offenders and predators. He accused the en banc court of discarding the party presentation principle, which dictates that courts should generally decide cases based on issues and arguments presented by the parties involved rather than raising new issues on their own.

He again referenced the 2020 Louisiana and Alabama rulings— State v. Hill and Doe v. Marshall, respectively — which found similar ID labels forced bearers to carry a “government-scripted” message and be subject to daily humiliation and exposure due to legislation not tailored narrowly enough.

“A requirement that a registrant publicly wear a governmentally compelled tee shirt or badge saying SEXUAL PREDATOR would be highly effective … but it is doubtful such a requirement would be narrowly tailored to pass constitutional analysis,” Makar wrote.

He suggested a statute number or code, like what Florida uses for sex offenders, a classification separate from sexual predators, could achieve the same purpose without stigmatizing language.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has incorporated sexual predator and offender identifiers into licenses since 2020.