Florida laws prevent convicted sex offenders and sexual predators from residing within 2,500 feet of certain locations. The statute is designed to prevent sex offenders from being near children, regardless of whether the crime for which the offender was convicted actually involved a child. Registered sex offenders and sexual predators, which are those people who have been convicted of certain sex crimes in Florida or other states, cannot live near parks, public or private schools, community libraries, and other locations.
Miami criminal attorney John Musca believes that although the laws were enacted to prevent habitual sex offenders from continuing to prey on young children, there are dire consequences. After all, a person who has completed his prison sentence or other sentence imposed by a court of law after a criminal conviction has paid his debt to society. The fact is that there are very few suitable living arrangements for registered sex offenders in Miami. Although this may not concern certain "tough on crime" factions, the issue is still there: registered sex offenders are the street are not good for anyone and such living arrangements are unlikely to promote family reunification and sex offender rehabilitation.
A number of sex offenders now live under bridges, most famously underneath the Julia Tuttle Causeway downtown. Approximately 70 sex offenders live there, huddled in tents in unsanitary conditions. If the ultimate goal of the criminal justice system, after punishment, is to rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders, then the current system is failing. The sex offenders do not have good access to sanitation and are unlikely to find employment, as they are homeless and do not have anywhere to shower or wash their clothes. One vocal advocate of change,Dr. Pedro Jose Greer, says, "What we're doing is we're saying 'let's take the people that we most despise, that did some of the most egregious things in society and let them all get together and not supervise them and let them wander around the community.'"
The original report is available here.
