Sex offenders living under bridge told to move
I said I wouldn't blog on MySpace anymore. And as far as new and original content goes, I'm sticking to that. But since I feel this CNN.com article forwarded to me by Just Nico needs to reach a larger audience, I'm posting it in both places. People have asked me why I keep posting blogs on this subject. To them I say: if someone took YOUR life away for no reason, you might be inclined to write about it, too. People who have paid their debt to society deserve a second chance. And in my case, I was the one who was raped (figuratively speaking) by a lying young woman, then by incompetent and perhaps even corrupt attorneys, and then by poorly-thought-out and politically motivated laws. At one point I was almost forced into homelessness by the law - much like these men. Thank goodness I had a mom, a future wife, and a dear friend, all three of whom were determined not to let that happen and had the resources to help. Not everyone in my position is so fortunate.
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Sex Offenders Living Under Bridge Told to Move
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/06/parolees.bridge.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
MIAMI, Florida (AP) — The state of Florida is trying to dissolve a community of sex offenders living under a bridge that includes a gym, kitchen, living room and two dogs.
[Sex offender Juan Carlos Martin hangs out at the makeshift camp under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.]
The men have lived under the Julia Tuttle Causeway for a year. They say limited money and strict local ordinances make it nearly impossible for them to live anywhere else.
But state officials are telling them to leave.
"We're urging them to find a residence. We want them to be able to reintegrate into society," said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Corrections Department.
"We are hopeful that if we push them, they will be able to find a residence that's better."
The state first advised the 19 registered Tuttle dwellers last week that they must move. Since then, five of the men have found homes. A sixth has gone missing, a reflection of the angst over the order.
Plessinger said probation officers have given the men lists of possible locations to look for housing. The offenders were initially given 72 hours to find housing, but Plessinger said it was simply to motivate the men to get started. There is no firm deadline.
All told, corrections officials count fewer than 50 homeless sex offenders statewide. About nine lived under the Oakland Park Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale until authorities abruptly evicted them last month, an incident Plessinger said prompted the wider demand for relocation.
"We're trying to be proactive, give the offenders time to find a place," she said.
Three of those evicted from beneath the Oakland Park bridge are now camping out in the Everglades, Plessinger said.
Carlene Sawyer, president of the Greater Miami chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the under-bridge housing "cruel and unusual punishment" that gives the community a "false sense of security."
The situation is garnering the attention of state lawmakers. Democratic State Rep. Jack Seiler said that while restrictions to keep sex offenders away from children are good, communities are trying to "one-up" each other with tougher and tougher restrictions.
He said the state may have to adopt uniform standards.
"There has to be some place in a greater metropolitan area where these individuals can reside and we can monitor them," Seiler said. "If we push them all underground or out of areas where they can be monitored, that is not in the best interest of public safety."
The offenders' community is like no other.
Just beneath where motorists pass, in the angled area where the bridge meets a concrete slope, there are domed tents, a cream-colored sofa beside a large generator-powered television and XBox, and stacks of canned food and drinks.
The air is tinged with sea salt, and the sound of cars passing overhead is relentless. Yet perfect Atlantic waters make it strangely serene.
At the bottom of the slope, there is a makeshift kitchen with a table, grill and jugs of water that residents fill more than a mile away. The community has a canoe for fishing, a weight bench, and a spot favored by a pit bull named Tigger and a German shepherd named Blackie.
On pillars supporting the bridge, and on the slope, residents have spray-painted their thoughts: "We 'R' Not Monsters." "They Treat Animals Better!!!" "Why?"
Juan Carlos Martin, a 29-year-old on the sex offender list for lewd or lascivious exhibition to a victim under the age of 16 — a crime he says he didn't commit — said it's been impossible for him to leave the bridge. He has been rejected from 15 jobs because of his record and can't find a place he can afford that's in compliance with the law.
Martin sits on his couch and sucks on a cigarette as a tiny white kitten peaks out from behind a stereo that no longer works. A gold crucifix hangs from his neck. He is off probation now, but he says he feels no freedom.
"What the law's doing to us is totally wrong," said Martin, who has lived here about six months. "Society will see that we aren't animals." E-mail to a friend 
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
I am words, I am speaking
I never heard my conclusion
Lost the way in my confusion, in illusion
Lost inside the picture frame
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Appropriate lyrics, as are these, from the same Renaissance song:
"I'm not to blame,
I didn't see the black flame"
Thanks, mb!
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I'm not ashamed, its poetry, the black flame
oh hell...
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/BLACK-FLAME-lyrics-The-Renaissance/70BBD5F2A6BD983248256A110034904D
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Cool! Thanks for the link...
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actually you're pretty laid back considering how they screwed you. had it been me, i'd have hunted everyone of them down and made them listen to dick & mary cheney interviews until their eyes bled.
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That may be a worse form of torture than waterboarding.
Thanks, Smith!
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have you ever read anything by carl hiaasen? smith's comment makes me think of "skink".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hiaasen
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I haven't. But I've heard good things about him from folks whose literary taste I respect.
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i read a couple by him - he's good.
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Thanks! You're one of those people whose opinion I respect immensely. (-;
I will have to check him out when I get caught up on my other reading. I'm in the middle of five books now, with no end in sight... lol.
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interesting article. pretty soon all of us gonna be livin under bridges too (when the economy collapses)... good luck with yr legal endeavours...
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Thanks, Lady! So far, so good... in my case, at least.
Why is the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge" going through my head?
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There is hideous bridge to cross from
the first day one is released from prison, then to parole where one has to register as a sex offender and then off parole where one still has to register and register and be turned down for jobs, forced to move three times and
then of all the bridges to cross still
have to register for the rest of one's
life as a sex offender. One of these
days this gap will be bridged and those
who HAVEN'T RAPED WILL BE EXONERATED.
Yes the fu@ing court took your life and
still are taking it. A pox on all of
them. Maybe some more bridges will fall
like the one in Milwaukee and all you
guys will be able to cross over instead
of living under this curse. Keep reminding all of us of this and keep
blogging your heart out. It's your duty
to your fellow men. All I can think of
as a lyric is "London Bridge is falling
down, My Fair Lady."
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As the old bridges fall, I am optimistic that new, better built and more equitable bridges will replace them.
"I have a dream..."
Thanks, Elena!
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We treat convicted murderers better than we treat most of these people. We expect them to come back into the folds of society, yet we hunt them down like animals when we find out who they are. What happened to the old saying "paid their debt to society" gone to these days! These people have paid their debts off, as far as I care they are square with the house and should be allowed to live how and where they please.
We practially brand them like a stigmata, we do not let them live in peace and will do anything, up to and inculding violence to purge them from our neighborhoods.
We need to protect the rights of these people as well, they are after all....human beings!
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You make some very good points. A guy who KILLS five children doesn't have his name and address put on an offender registry when he is released. Nor does the law restrict him from living in large areas of the city to which he returns. But a guy convicted of indecent exposure may very well be subject to such registration and restriction. Doesn't seem right to me....
Thanks for your comment, Alley Cat Ways!
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Very true!! I believe in your innocence JC. But to the folks out there that did mess up and pay... like everyone has said "They paid for their crime" I think society rapes many people everyday in many ways. Also as humans I think we can change, I think we all make mistakes, most learn from them and don't repeat them... I think it is ignorant for a society to define ones entire existence & worth on that one mistake.
It saddens me to see so many who did nothing wrong pay the ultimate price, I think I'd rather be dead than face a life with no living!!
Peace to you JC!!
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Thank you so much, Angela. You make some very good points and I appreciate your support.
By the way, great job on new new site look so far. I put a link to your blog on my JC's Favorites page.
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I find it interesting that the press mostly refers to criminals as "alleged" criminals, as in alleged murderer, alleged rapist, alleged this or that, but the article refers to those in the article as "sex offenders" rather than "alleged offenders".
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ooh... a good point that I hadn't really considered!
Thanks, InspireShine.
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Miami cops are notorious for beating sex offenders. Lisa
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I've been through a lot of Florida, I suppose, but never Miami. This just about makes me never want to go....
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so much for the herald...
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Ha! Unless I can write for them long distance.... (-;
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somehow i don't think dave barry made it into the office everyday...
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Probably not... lol
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This stuff just makes me well it makes me want to get so involved to help change those laws.. Perhaps being in Chicago is a bit out of my league.. I need to check into that here in IL also. This makes me sad. I fed a homeless man for about a year. Then one day he was up and gone. It broke my heart into. But I was hoping for the best..
Love to you NAMASTE!!!
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You have such a big heart, Shy.... I consider it a great honor to call you my friend.
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Yes... if you killed 5 children on a day in Iraq, you'd get extra combat pay for your efforts. This is truly in the "witch-hunt" category- the "I'm tough on crime" political demagoguery school of heartless ass-hats.
^..^
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A sad, but often all-too-true commentary on the state of the world today....
Thank you, Herbert.
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This is NIMBY (not in my back yard) taken to the cruel extreme.
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Indeed! Research shows that if offenders can live in a stable home with family, have a decent job, etc., they are far less likely to re-offend. So instead of passing laws to help them achieve these things (which is in society's best interest), we pass laws to do the opposite. It's almost as though lawmakers want them to commit new crimes, so they can lock them back up and have an excuse to continue to demonize them.
Thanks for your comment, Jens!
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Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to the more ought law to weed it out.
Sir Francis Bacon
English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 - 1626)
This is a great example of what happens when the law delivers revenge instead of justice. Disenfranchising people is not justice and it can be dangerous. The goal of the law and the goal of society should be to incorporate all of its citizens and allow all of us to live in humane conditions. The sex offender laws are so out of control that they are making victims of the convicted offenders. The purpose of the law should never be to victimize anyone. Human beings being forced to live under a bridge and being treated worse than animals is a disgrace. It's common sense that a person who is released from prison has a much better chance of becoming a productive citizen if he/she is allowed access to housing and a job so that the person can become self-reliant. Forcing people into a half life with no job, no home and no prospects are the very conditions that breed criminal behavior where the goal should be to prevent it. I was watching a talk show last night where the panel was discussing the United States using torture. One of the points discussed is that while it may satisfy a need for revenge to treat a human being inhumanely, it is much more effective to find common ground with the person being questioned. Affinity yields more cooperation than torture. Another point that came up was the amount of torture the United States is responsible for. The problem is that by condoning any inhumane acts, wheher they be many or few, we are tained by our inhumanity and invite inhumane acts to be done to us. I think the same can be said for a convicted criminal who has served his/her debt to society. These people have a real chance of re-entering society and being productive if given the chance. The goals for these people need to be focused on rehabilitaton and not revenge. Revenge plays to our most base desires, while rehabilitation allows for the betterment of society as a whole. Logic should dictate that these people are not going to disappear. We have to be able to live together. Every human being has to have a way to support himself and a place to call home. These laws are so severe that they make it impossible for a person to re-enter society. When we allow human beings to be treated in this appalling manner, we diminish our humanity.
I think that it's wonderful that you have the courage to share your story, John, and that you continue to bring these difficult issues to our attention. I know that I did not realise how unfairly slanted and counterproductive the laws regarding convicted sex offenders are before I "met" you. Keep up the good work!
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What an eloquent comment, Tara! You've made many excellent observations, and I think this would make a fine blog in itself. "Affinity yields more cooperation than torture" is absolutely true. And your quotation from Bacon was the perfect preface. You remind me of these words by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Thank you!
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I was online, searching for some related articles, when I came across your blog page. I wish to say thank you for blogging on the issue. I must say that the comments "Tara" made were right on the money. I am one of the residents from under that bridge location everyone has commented on. Before I leave... I would like to share a video I made for Rickyslife.com and posted it on Youtube with relevance to the way our country allows, and keeps punishing ex offenders whom have paid their debt to society and the legal system. Yet are still being punished even more by being forced to live under the conditions seen here on this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD7yyqmyWb8
http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html
I found this to be very interesting. I have provided the link above. Look for yourself and see how children are killed each year by others that are "NOT Sex Offenders" Why is there not a registry for them?
Check this from a 2002 study;
A quick look at Top Ten deaths in minors in 2002 shows that there were 17,759 kids who died (excluding infant mortality).
Of those:
1296 were shot to death by someone,
(I don't see everyone up in arms to ban firearms to save these children.)
145 were stabbed to death,
(I don't see everyone up in arms to protect these chidlren.)
89 were strangled,
(Nor these.)
37 were burned alive,
(Nope, nothing here eiter.)
17 were poisoned,
(Again, nothing.)
603 shot themselves,
(Sadly no one seems to care.)
559 hung themselves,
(Nothing comes up.)
and
6132 were killed in traffic accidents.
(Over 2,600 of these were killed by Drunk Drivers and no one is screaming for them to be Registered and Restricted even though they kill more children each year than Sex Offenders ever have.)
These people don't understand the "long term" consequences of these laws. The best example is what the Nazi's did. They started with Sex Offenders and then slowly amended the laws to include more and more "undesirables" until the laws covered everyone to some degree. This quote by a German Pastor after the war says it all:
First they came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, but by that time, no one was left to speak up.
- Pastor Martin Niemoeller, Nazi Germany
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I am grateful for your comment and l look forward to checking out the video as soon as I have a chance. You've made some excellent points. Peace, friend!...
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I'ts a frightening state of affairs. Similar to the treatment of the homeless and mentally ill in the Third Reich in Germahy in the 40's. Once we loose our compassion we loose ourselves and any chance of a humane quality of life. I'm hoping that someone starts building the ark soon.
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Thank you very much for stopping by and sharing, Freedom!
I'm hoping, too.
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Thanks for sharing this article
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You're welcome! Thanks for your comment. Sorry the photo's no longer available - not sure what happened to it.
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