Assuming the reporter is accurate as to how this happened, then Floridians need to be more concerned because the setting is a MANUAL operation not verified by any computer cross checking with the state registry; MANUAL! Who is responsible for the programming of the State's computers?5-8-15 Florida:
CLERMONT — Tammy Lemasters wondered why a judge and bailiff raised eyebrows after looking at her drivers license when she went to a court hearing for a traffic ticket.
Lemasters, who had recently moved back to Clermont from West Virginia, was shocked to find in the bottom right corner of her newly issued license the words "Sexual Predator" in blue capital letters.
The mother of three teenagers had the license for a few days before realizing the error. When she found out, she started crying and was afraid to drive or do anything where she might have to show her license.
On Thursday, she threatened to sue the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles unless changes are made to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else.
"It's so embarrassing and shouldn't be something that should have happened," said Lemasters, 42. "They need to change."
She said she never thought to check for that when looking over her license at the DMV office.
"They asked me to check my name and address, and that's what I checked," Lemasters said. "The sexual-predator box is in the lower corner, and she had her finger there. I just took it and put it in my wallet. No one checks for 'sexual predator' on your license."
She and her fiancé tried going to Disney World about two weeks ago and were detained by employees after showing her ID for the Florida discount. She said the couple told employees the stamp was a mistake but were held in a room for about three hours while employees called authorities about it.
Lemasters, an Applebee's server, was also turned away at a Clermont hotel when trying to check in.
She returned to the DMV office Thursday to get a new license and was ecstatic to get the problem fixed.
"I'm so happy," Lemasters said. "Driving is so much more relaxing."
John Phillips, a Jacksonville attorney representing Lemasters, said the notation on his client's license was the result of a "Scarlet Letter" law signed in 2007 by Gov. Charlie Crist. The law requires sexual predators and offenders to have a distinctive mark on their licenses as a safety measure for the public.
"The DMV simply clicked 'sexual predator' instead of 'organ donor,'" Phillips said. "There aren't any warning screens once an employee clicks 'sexual predator,' and there should be."
He said the suit won't be filed if the agency agrees to make changes in the computer system to prevent future errors.
"This isn't about money at all," he said. "It's about preventing it from happening to others."
Mark O'Keefe, manager of the drivers-license office on U.S. Highway 27 south of State Road 50 in Lake County's largest city, said he talked to employees to make sure they're asking customers to check their licenses. He said he will issue new training for employees at the facility, which sees nearly 200 people daily.
O'Keefe said Lemasters called the office April 21, four days after the license was issued. She detailed the problem and received an apology and was told to return to fix the flub.
"Each customer is asked to check over their license to avoid errors like these," O'Keefe said. "We're just humans doing a human job, and we can make human mistakes."
John Lucas, a DMV spokesman in Tallahassee, said the agency has long-term plans to update drivers-license systems to prevent such problems, but in the meantime people need to make sure everything is OK before they leave the DMV.
Phillips said this wasn't the first time the mistake has happened. He said he has been contacted by three individuals over the past couple years with similar stories, including a blind man incorrectly marked as a sex offender in 2012 on his DMV-issued ID card after he moved from Louisiana to Jacksonville. The man died earlier this year "and didn't get the justice he deserved before passing away," the attorney said.
For Lemasters, the episode was a nightmare.
"No one thinks that something like this can happen," she said. ..Source.. by Christal Hayes
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