FL- Causeway dwellers prefer to stay

7-31-2009 Florida:

The sex offenders who have lived under the Julia Tuttle Causeway for three years are now reluctant to leave despite their deplorable existence.

Three years ago, few cared about the ragtag outcasts living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

Now, two lawsuits and a groundswell of national media coverage later, potential housing options for the convicted sex offenders are being negotiated among state and local officials, with legal challenges poised to fly through the courts. Even Gov. Charlie Crist has pledged to do his part to find a resolution.

But there is just one snag no one seemed to see coming: The sex offenders themselves are reluctant to leave their ramshackle abodes, no matter how deplorable their isolated existence has become.

Ron Book -- chairman of Miami-Dade's Homeless Trust and a victim's right's advocate -- is nevertheless marching forward on a mission to relocate the very people he once pledged to ostracize.

He has up to 18 possible units ready for them to move into and more to investigate.

But the causeway community isn't budging, at least for now.

``I guess they're trying to move us out of here because they're worried about the lawsuit,'' said Rickie, 24, who gave only his first name because he did not want it widely known that he lives under the causeway.

``I'd rather stay here. This where they put me in the first place.''

Book cited two obstacles: Many don't want to move into far south Miami-Dade County, while others have bought into a rumor that they may benefit financially from legal challenges brought recently on their behalf.

Two officials from the state Department of Corrections visited the encampment Thursday afternoon to offer another list of possible housing sites, Book said. They also spoke with some of the residents.

``They [state officials] were interested in the rumor that some of them don't want to go because they think they are going to miss some kind of a payday,'' Book said.

He theorized they may believe they stand to win money from a lawsuit brought on behalf of two causeway dwellers against Miami-Dade County earlier this month.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which brought the suit, said it seeks no monetary damages, so while the bridge dwellers won't benefit financially, they will benefit from changes in the residency ordinances if the lawsuit is successful.

``I don't want to depend on a lawsuit,'' said Troy Dumas, 32, who has been living in the camp for three months.

``I want to be with my family. No amount of money can take that away from me.''

The latest legal volley came Thursday, when Miami-Dade County filed a motion in Circuit Court that will move the case more swiftly through the courts. In the suit, the ACLU argues that the state law designating that sex offenders live more than 1,000 feet from where children congregate should supersede the county's ordinance, which prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school.

The 2,500-foot law, which has been expanded in other counties and cities to include playgrounds, parks, child-care centers and a myriad of other child-friendly places, has made it impossible for sex offenders to live anywhere, critics say. As a result, the sex offenders often go into hiding where no one can keep track of them.

Essentially, the county is asking the court to rule in the county's favor as a matter of law, based on the presumption that the facts presented in the ACLU's complaint are true.

No matter what the decision, the case will be appealed, said Randall Marshall, legal director of the ACLU. It would then go to the state Third District Court of Appeal.

Neither Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez nor Assistant County Attorney Thomas Logue were available for comment Thursday.

``We should win as a matter of law because the county's ordinance interferes with state law,'' Marshall said, adding that Gov. Crist's long-standing position that local jurisdictions should set their own boundaries ``is basically just wrong.''

The city of Miami, meanwhile, is suing the state, contending the Department of Corrections placed the sex offenders illegally under the bridge in violation of their 2,500-foot ordinance, which they say places them too close to a park. ..Source.. by JULIE BROWN