My name is Chaz Stevens (that's me in the photo, with my custom-made “34” felonies jersey). Three decades of First Amendment litigation and activism. CLE Faculty. NPR, The Washington Post, The Daily Show, MTV. My recent work has generated millions of views here on Reddit. DeSantis named me personally as the sole justification for rewriting his book banning law. I professionally debug whether laws actually apply to everyone — especially powerful people.

In this case, the most powerful of people. Hint, he's orange. David v. Goliath.

"They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Blimpkin's sword is a gold-plated Super Soaker. My pen? A half-used, somewhat-chewed-on Bic. So far, I'm still writing."

What I Won't Answer

I won't speculate on legal outcomes before those case files land. I won't name officers beyond what's already in the public documents. I teach CLEs, but I am not a lawyer, nor your lawyer. I am, however, a giant pain in the ass to those in power.

Please, ask me everything else.

The Law

Florida Statute 775.13 requires any convicted felon to register in person with the county sheriff within 48 hours of entering that county.

Trump lives in Palm Beach County. At the time I sent those letters, I worked in Boca Raton. This was my sheriff. This was my county. This was my law. Our law. To be applied equally, or so goes the theory.

Trump is a convicted felon.
I am not.
He did not register, faced no consequences.
I did.

What I Did

On May 31, 2024 — one day after a New York jury convicted Donald Trump on 34 felony counts — I sent formal letters to five agencies: the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the Palm Beach Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and the ATF.

I asked each agency how they planned to ensure compliance with existing Florida law. Knew they'd take a pass, but WTAF, amirite? Asked whether Trump had registered. Asked the ATF whether a convicted felon may legally possess firearms in Florida.

No agency ever responded.
The kids call that ghosting.

"I asked my sheriff why a convicted felon hadn't registered with his office. Three of his deputies pulled my personal records two days later. The file says 'FPOTUS COMPLAINT.' In Florida, that's not a scandal. That's a Taco Tuesday."

What Happened Next

Eleven days later, three PBSO officers accessed my personal driver's license records in Florida's law enforcement database on consecutive days.

First officer's notation: "FPOTUS COMPLAINT 202400607406." Second officer's notation: "PBSO #24-071429 DL Check." Third officer's notation: "intel investigation."

FPOTUS. Former President of the United States.

Three officers. Two consecutive days. Six page views of my personal records.

Intel investigation.

One irritated clerk running a complainer? That's complaint processing. Three different officers, escalating notations, across multiple days? That starts to look like a file.

Karen called for a supervisor.

The Federal Hook

Florida's law enforcement database is governed by the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act — 18 U.S.C. § 2721. Unauthorized access carries a $2,500 minimum statutory penalty per violation, plus actual damages, plus attorneys' fees. Private right of action. You can sue.

I FOI'd PBSO's complete compliance file. Nine misuse memos spanning 2021 through 2026 — deputies running their own plates, their spouses, their family members. Every case caught by routine audit. Every case reported to the state within the required 30-day window. Every officer disciplined.

"Then there's me — the guy who asked why the law applies to everyone except the man who lives in the tacky gold house at the end of the road. My name appears nowhere in those memos. Make of that what you will."

What I'm Still Waiting For

I've filed a follow-up PRR for the complete contents of case files 202400607406 and 24-071429 — the numbers cited in the access log. Still waiting. I will update this thread when those files land.

Those familiar with my work know about my FOI Engineering Playbook (it's free!) — where I've taken an objectively different approach, weaponizing the law, to access public information.

Either those files show routine complaint processing — which still raises the question of why three officers escalated over two days — or they show something else entirely. A formal intelligence file on a professional stress tester. A background investigation. A dossier built because someone asked inconvenient questions about a powerful man. I've asked to see what's inside that document.

One of those is a bureaucratic footnote. The other is a federal story.

The Documents

Here's a full Substack deep dive with the complete document trove.

For lawyers, journalists, and privacy advocates: What's the one thing you'd want to see in those pending case files to consider this legally actionable? What does prosecutable look like here?

For everyone else: If your sheriff opened an intel investigation on you because you asked why the law applies to everyone except the guy at the end of the road — what would you want to know first?

If you want to help push this further, we're building an army and sharing every document: support the fight here and read the full breakdown here.

I'll be here answering questions for the next four hours. Updates will be posted to this thread as new documents arrive.

AMA.