FL- Sex Offenders Living Under Bridge To Be Forced Out

Who has proper jurisdiction of the "Artificial Reef" constructed by the state? Is it "property" that is recorded as part of "Miami-Dade" county?

7-28-2009 Florida:

Sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway could be forced out of their makeshift tent homes on Monday.

A Miami-Dade ordinance decrees that convicted sex offenders cannot live within 25 hundred feet of where children congregate which includes schools, parks and daycare centers. State law only requires a one thousand foot limit. Due to the tighter restrictions in Miami-Dade more than seventy sex offenders found no where in the county to live expect for a section of land under the mainland bridge section of the causeway. The state even ordered some of them to live there.

Miami-Dade officials and homeless advocates have been working to find some other place for them to live under the current law. One location under consideration is the former North Dade Detention Center which closed in 2007. The center is located near the Golden Glades interchange and some residents who live in the area are opposed to the idea of sex offenders moving into their neighborhood.

"If they have sex offenders coming around here, it is not good at all because around here there are a lot of kids," said Junie Joseph.

Some of the sex offenders who are currently living under the causeway don't like the idea either.

"I'm not paying to live there," said one sex offender who did not wish to be identified in the media. "From what I heard a while back they want you to pay money to live in places like that and I'm not of a fan of living in no jail house."

Eight of the people in the camp under the bridge will be moved to a private apartment building in South Miami-Dade County soon. Another ideal place, according to Miami-Dade Homeless Trust chairman Ronald Book, would be an apartment or former hotel that is in foreclosure.

But large issues remain, such as who would supervise the residents, pay for liability insurance, and their rent, which officials agree shouldn't be the taxpayer in a long-term solution. ..Source.. by Sharrie Williams