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.
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.
Nobody has even Committed on my idea about the school buses ???. Am I that far off ????. I’ve lived OFFGRID for years, Lived on a Boat for 2 1/2 year’s. So I know it can be done and done pretty cheap !!. And I KNOW that a School Bus will sleep 24 people EASILY !!!. And there CHEAP compared to other options !!. 1 small A/C and Generator will keep it cool !!. AND THEIR MOBILE !!!!. And I’m NOT JOKING about parking to hem in different places every couple of nights !!. And if they start a MOBILE CHURCH/SHELTER then I’m sure they can “Skirt” around most of the”Overnight Camping” laws !!. It’s going to take EVERYONE there to WORK TOGETHER to get through this and live !!. I know THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE living in Converted School Buses FULL-TIME and do it in COMFORT, Why can’t everyone there in Bookville V do the same thing ??. Also, I see FREE Travel Trailers on Craigslist all the time !!. We’ve converted several Travel Trailers into Sleeping Quarters and they worked great !!. I’m just saying, Instead of everyone complaining about”How Bad” the Conditions are there, Why not Help Themselves and WORK TOGETHER and improve their living conditions ??. Not trying to sound harsh, Just being REAL !!. I’ve had to do the SAME THINGS myself !!. Lost it ALL because of this crap, But Kept fighting and pushing myself (living in a small van, then a small RV, Then a Boat, Then saved enough to buy a Crappy Cabin in the Woods that needed TONS of work(I work on it almost daily), But I kept working at it instead of just staying in the little van I started with !!!. And I didn’t have any help !! AND I’m Disabled (and not getting S.S. yet!!). School Buses and RVs seems like the CHEAPEST way to get people off the ground and inside of some kind of shelter !!!!.
I am beginning to wonder of the reason Ron Book is pushing so hard to demonize sex offenders then push so hard to move them out into distant locations far from the center of town, is to encourage vigilantes to harm and kill the sex offenders. And Ron Book is very likely to be a peodophile hiding in the closet who hasn’t yet been exposed.
It does sound like a good idea, but it would have to be organized and we would need contributions of buses trailers etc….
I am all for our people getting up off the ground and into some sort of shelter over their heads. I just don’t know how. You do have good idea though if the law doesn’t put a squash on it.
Exactly WHERE on 112 are they starting to camp? What location? I want to start the process of taking Book down….. He has destroyed who knows how many lives and upset the lives of many more. I think that we should start giving “credit” where credit is do. A sign that I am proposing to make up and display at each end of this new encampment.
WELCOME TO
“Ron” BOOKVILLE
V ENCAMPMENT
“Violating peoples basic rights everyday”
Out of respect to those at the encampment and for their safety we will not publish their exact location. At least not until it’s publicly known. We do not want to contribute to the risk of something happening
I understand and will abide by your advice. I just think Mr Book should get some “attention” to what he is doing to human beings under the guise of the law
I love the name, Bookville V, I hope it catches on in the media nationwide about this crooked, delusional man! I hope someone he knows & cares about winds up on the registry so he can see first hand how he has ruined so many people’s lives. I pray for that.
He’d buy and bribe their way out of it ( just like he did with his own arrests of grand theft, 3 counts insurance fraud, uttering a forged instrument, illegal campaign contributions ), just so he won’t be embarrassed and made a fool of.
I still think gathering up several old School Buses and parking them somewhere Different every couple of nights would help Crooked Book get into a hurry about changing these insane laws !!. Start a MOBILE CHURCH/SHELTER or something !!!!. Use the “Grey Area” Against them !!!.
Park them in front of ron books business and home whenever possible
I knew this would happen. Ron Book has yet another link in the “chain” of Homeless Sex offender sites. How long will he let those people sit there this time before he tries to claim HE had them evicted; not the unsanitary conditions.
And he tried “so hard” to work with “these people” but they REFUSED (oh, I dont make enough money to live in a $1500/month apartment–so I REFUSED)
Did Mr Book even try to place 2-3-4 people into a 4br apartment? That way all 4 would qualify and “Ronnie” would have to pay 4x as much.
What about section 8 housing?
If Ron wants the “bad men” out, away from each other, why dont he build a city where they could all reside?
so’s are not allowed section 8
All RSO’s in Florida are required to register for life, regardless of the “possibility” that they can petition to be removed after blue zillion years. Ergo, no public housing, right?
God have mercy. Please.