Facing an imminent lawsuit to be brought by Legal Services of Greater Miami on behalf of the homeless sex offenders living alongside railroad tracks in Miami-Dade, the Deputy Mayor has granted a temporary reprieve to the forced eviction scheduled for Sunday, May 6, 2018.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, had sent a memo on March 21st, announcing plans to shut down the encampment of sex offenders living outdoors, legislated into homelessness by the County’s 2500 foot exclusion zone. Included in that plan was a deadline of May 6th for the registrants to leave or the County would enforce the recently enacted “Bovo Amendment” enabling them to arrest homeless on site if they were registered sex offenders.

During the period that followed, nobody, including the homeless trust, was able to find alternate housing for the 270 individuals, even for those who could afford it. The county’s solution; move them to another street corner all the way in southwest Miami,next to a rock quarry in the middle of nowhere, over one mile from the closest public transportation, where they would still be outdoors without shelter, running water or sanitation. Still “overnight camping”.

As the deadline approached, attorney Jeffrey Hearne, Director of Litigation at Legal Services of Greater Miami, sent notice to the County that if they intend to move forward, a lawsuit would be filed.

Today, Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp granted a stay of any enforcement action so that the County can “provide clarity” as to what their intended next course of action is. A copy of the letter is below.

A tremendous amount of gratitude goes out to Jeff Hearne who has been working tirelessly on this!

County Response (May 4 2018)

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