This past Sunday another Sun-Sentinel Sex Offender story came out. This time the concern is that Broward county sex offenders who are registering as homeless are not truly homeless. They are now promising to dig in, find them, charge them with new crimes and put them in jail or back on the streets where they are supposed to be.
It’s actually a rather horrible situation that screams of civil rights violations.
According to a 2003 study on transience; “Broward’s restrictions cover 97% of the territory in a densely populated county where the average 1-bedroom rental price is over $1,000 per month, leaving nearly 9% of its sex offenders without a compliant place to call home.” (source)
With only 3% of the county being available to sex offenders and the population of registrants growing each year, the numbers of homeless sex offenders are growing.
So these individuals are forced to live along a three block strip along North Federal Highway in Ft. Lauderdale. Outdoors in the South Florida summer heat, rain and mosquitoes. It’s no wonder that increasing numbers are choosing to go underground and live somewhere in the other 97% of the county.
Keep in mind these people are not being arrested because they are committing new sex crimes. They are being arrested because they are putting a roof over their heads at night; arguably a fundamental right. Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services…”
Here’s the Sun-Sentinel article. Read into it what you want…
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