Miami city commissioners will sue the Florida Department of Corrections in an
attempt to stanch the flow of newly released sexual offenders from state
prisons to city streets and bridge underpasses, the Miami Herald reports. The
issue made headlines again several weeks ago after the Herald reported that
about a dozen male sexual offenders on probation were living on a sidewalk. “We
need to send a message to the state that it’s certainly not a proper act,” said
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.
Officials expressed frustration with again facing the problem only two years
after authorities rousted 100 sex offenders who had set up a makeshift camp
under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. The corrections department was aware of that
site and listed it as the ex-cons’ official address. The men have limited
options for where to live; a Miami-Dade County law created to end a patchwork
of municipal laws against sex offenders makes it illegal for them to live
within 2,500 feet of schools or other gathering spots for children. Police
Commander Manny Morales said the county law gives people “a false sense of
protection” because it keeps the offenders away from children at night –
typically between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. But during the day, he said, they can go
wherever they wish.