LAKE MONROE, FLORIDA – March 18, 2014
“Bookville”
- the name that has become associated with a colony of sex offenders
forced to live homeless as a consequence of residency restrictions
pushed through by lobbyist Ron Book, which is in its third incarnation,
is beginning to get media attention again.
The first “Bookville”
developed under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, but when the growing number
of inhabitants began to swell from under the overpass and become visible
to passing tourists en route to
Miami Beach, the overpass was fenced
off and its inhabitants were moved to NE 79th Street and 10
th Avenue; another of the very limited pockets of availability for sex offenders in Miami-Dade County.
A
couple of years later, when residents of that community began to get
annoyed by the offenders living on the sidewalk who were dumped there by
probation, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff installed a spring toy in a small
decrepit lot and declared it the “Little River Pocket Park”, effectively
banishing the inhabitants from there.
Today, “Bookville 3” has emerged at NW 71
st Street and 36
th
Court, along the railroad tracks, where 130 individuals are registered
as homeless, living without shelter, fresh water, electricity or
sanitation – forced to urinate and defecate in the bushes.
Probation
and legislators likely hoped that this more desolate warehouse district
would remain under wraps a bit longer, but the Media is catching up.
Just this past Thursday, the Miami New Times ran a story on the
encampment, Univision 23 Miami (WLTV) was out to film a feature and a
news crew from as far as France came to film the intolerable conditions
former sex offenders in the United States are subjected to.
Undoubtedly,
as it has done before, the County will soon come up with a creative way
to displace the sex offenders from Bookville 3 and is probably
currently searching for a bridge, field or sidewalk in another community
to shuffle them to. However, with very limited pockets of availability
remaining in the County where sex offenders can reside; expect
Commissioners to face a very big challenge planning the development of
Bookville 4.
Florida Action Committee (FAC),
founded in 2006, is a state-wide consortium of concerned citizens and
professionals whose purpose is to promote the prevention of sexual abuse
while preserving the safety and dignity of all citizens through
carefully structured laws targeting the truly violent, forced, and/or
dangerous predatory acts of sex. FAC believes that many aspects of the
current approach to sex offenders seriously undermine justice and
actually increase the threat of sexual assault against others,
particularly children. FAC opposes a publicized registry of sex
offenders and seeks to bring an end to the humiliation of people who
have already paid for their crimes. FAC asserts that only by supporting
justice for all people—offenders and victims alike can a truly safe
society be built and secured for all Americans.
