New Encampment, “Bookville V”, already has 75 “residents”
As Legal Services of Greater Miami attorney Jeffrey Hearne cautioned the Judge and the media less than one week ago; unless something is done (about the 2500 foot exclusion zone) new encampments will pop up and “the cycle will continue.”
It took less than a week after hundreds of registrants were evicted from a warehouse district along the railroad tracks near Hialeah for a new encampment to emerge; “Bookville V”, is named after lobbyist Ron Book, the man who not only created the laws that force sex offenders to cluster in small pockets of availability in Miami-Dade County, but also the person who then kicks them out of those pockets. This new location will be the fifth time “the cycle has continued”, the first being the notorious Julia Tuttle Causeway encampment.
Located under and alongside the State Road 112 bridge, there are already 75 men and women registered to the location. With a couple more days for registration deadlines, and individuals who will undoubtedly get kicked out of other temporary locations they scattered to after this week’s eviction, we expect more to be added daily.
Below is an image of the site, taken from Google, before the registrants arrived. Notice the absence of any shelter.
Below is a screenshot of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) map with overlapping tents as icons depicting the transient registrants.
We will keep you updated.
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I would argue it is a serious 8th amendment violation “Deliberate Indifference” The registry is causing”serious harm” places lives in Jeopardy Just because there is no fence and razor wire doesn’t mean the officials can’t be held an accountable. People getting hurt. and killed.
In reading an article in the New York Times this evening, I came across an article that featured an early decision from Justice Kennedy when he was still on the bench from the 9th Circuit. His writing in one sentence from Spain v. Procunier, 600 F. 2d 189 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 1979 caught my eye:
“Underlying the Eighth Amendment is a fundamental premise that prisoners are not to be treated as less than human beings.”
Now Spain V. Procunier was about the treatment of prisoners when incarcerated within the Department of Justice but, isn’t the plight of our fellow citizens in Miami-Dade controlled by law? We cannot escape the requirement (and penalty) of Residency Restriction any more than a prisoner can just walk out of his/her prison cell to get a little fresh air.
We may not be prisoners in the literal since but we are still not permitted to join the rest of the free society to live work and play, just like a prisoner is not allowed the prison compound.
When SCOTUS gave the decision in Packingham, it refereed to Facebook as the new “Town Square”. Therefore (in the same line of thinking) we are still prisoners even though we are not behind bars. This decision must be determined by a judge in a court of course, but when you plead your case you must persuade the court that your argument is lawful. You “move” the court for any decision you would like it to have in your favor. The information contained in Spain v. Procunier given by Justice Kennedy in 1979 can be used to “move” the court to show how this case law notes that we should “…are not to be treated than human beings.”
We also find the use of the same above verbiage in Graves v. Arpaio, 48 F. Supp. 3d 1318 – Dist. Court, D. Arizona 2014 under the section titled: D. Eighth Amendment Standard for Medical and Mental Health Care. The paragraph states that “…Eighth Amendment requires that prison officials ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, and medical care and take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the inmates.”
Again, we are technically inmates/prisoners but yet we are treated as such. Should be not be afforded the same that the case law mentioned gives those who are behind bars. I see no difference between us (SO’s) and them (prisoner/inmates).
This is a very good point.
Sorry, the end of paragraph 5 should read …are not to be treated less than human beings.
Paragraph 7 should read: Again we are technically not prisoners/inmates…
UPDATE: Bookville V is now up to 120 registrants!
Nobody knows neighborhood planning and development like Ron Book!
I love the name
Bookville V
Can we post the history from “Bookville 1 to Bookville V” so the media can pick them up and rewrite and point to Book for his action.
It would be just to see ron book caught up in so charges. Im sure he would be all for changing the laws then.