There’s a line between controlling offenders that the public are frightened of and restricting them so much it actually backfires—requiring them to dodge the law in order to make it. That’s essentially what has happened in the Miami-Dade case of the Julia Tuttle Causeway bridge.
Once home to nearly 100 men and women, many sex offenders, the bridge was cleared out earlier this year. However, now those former residents are once again on the verge of homelessness and may end up right back where they were chased from according to the Miami Herald.
Sex offender laws dictate just where a person convicted of sex offenses can live. They require them to keep a specific distance between their residence and places where children congregate, like schools and parks. This often eliminates a lot of potential housing for people whose income if often limited by their inability to get good paying jobs, also because of their prior convictions.
So, what happens when a sex offender can’t find a place to live that adheres to their sex offender rules? They lie or end up homeless—neither of which are good for the community. Camps such as the one under the causeway are popping up around the country as laws attempt to balance public safety with reasonable, effective laws.
The city and homeless agencies worked to find housing for the offenders living under the bridge. However, those leases are about to expire and many sex offenders are once again facing homelessness.
This isn’t just a problem affecting those convicted of sex offenses, however. Men and women released from prison are given a bus ticket and $100. If they don’t have a support system on the outside, $100 doesn’t go very far.
And while many in society have the attitude that the ex-convicts brought it upon themselves, they should know that lack of housing and employment dramatically increases the chances that they will reoffend. In other words, homelessness and poverty among felons becomes society’s problem whether they like it or not.
While the post-incarceration rules for sex offenders are most definitely the strictest, there are consequences for other crimes that far outlast any potential jail or prison time. Finding a job with a felony conviction in Florida or anywhere else can pose a whole host of problems, even if the charge wasn’t violent at all.
The best way to prevent these kind of long term consequences is to keep a conviction off your record. While this isn’t always possible, a good defense attorney will work tirelessly to ensure you get the best possible results.
