Sex Offenders Set Up Camp - Under a bridge

[DS1]

Another one showed up last night. Around 10 — just before curfew — a car rolled in under the bridge and the newcomer got out with his wife. She hugged and kissed him goodbye, pulled the car out along the road, and disappeared into a sea of headlights.

The new guy sits by the side of the Julia Tuttle Causeway, talking to a group of men huddled atop a collection of lawn chairs, buckets, and plastic crates facing the water, toward the Miami skyline.

"I can't believe this shit," he booms. Nearly six feet tall and 250 pounds, endowed with a voice like a fire engine, he has already earned his new nickname: Big Man. The men listen with mild sympathy. "They're shocked; the new guys are in shock," explains Patrick Wiese, who has been living under the bridge since July.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-12-13/news/sex-offenders-set-up-camp/

slideshow -
http://miaminewtimes.com/slideshow/index.php?gallery=30377&type=1&page=0

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I'm speechless

How is having all these guys living under a bridge with no supervision better than in supervised group homes? :shrug:

[Bennyboy]

20. We ain't paying for it.....

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. yes we are...

we'll be paying monetarily when crime rates go up, because that's what happens when you do this to people.
as for now, we're just paying with little bits of our souls...

[dbackjon]

2. Unbelievable

And it shows the stupidity of one-size fits all sex-offender laws. Some sex-offenders are clearly dangerous, others made mistakes that are not habitual

Enrique Ortiz was 13 years old when he acquired the status of sex offender for life. According to state prosecutors, Ortiz, armed with a flare gun, forced his way into an apartment on the 900 block of NW 28th Street in which two preteens were present and, after stealing jewelry and clothing from their mother's bedroom, forced them into a closet, where he allegedly forced one child to perform oral sex on him.

The case was far from straightforward. After the crime, investigators combed the neighborhood and found Charles Jackson, who was in possession of a piece of the stolen jewelry. Jackson said the ring had been given to him by Ortiz. Jackson was not arrested, detained, or questioned further. Instead police hunted down the adolescent Ortiz, arrested him, and charged him with 11 counts, including burglary, kidnapping, and sexual battery.

Ortiz, now 29 years old, says he's innocent. "Charles? He was the one who did it. I was small; he used me to go through the bars. I broke in, yeah, but then I waited for him outside."

[Romulox]

3. What a horrifying society we've become!

:wtf:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. sometimes i read something and i swear its a joke from the onion.

but its not.

whats wrong with us?

[Sugar Smack]

5. Holy shit.

:wow: This "civilization" has to take matters into its own hands and find housing for malfeasons.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. .

From the article:

The case was far from straightforward. After the crime, investigators combed the neighborhood and found Charles Jackson, who was in possession of a piece of the stolen jewelry. Jackson said the ring had been given to him by Ortiz. Jackson was not arrested, detained, or questioned further. Instead police hunted down the adolescent Ortiz, arrested him, and charged him with 11 counts, including burglary, kidnapping, and sexual battery.

Ortiz, now 29 years old, says he's innocent. "Charles? He was the one who did it. I was small; he used me to go through the bars. I broke in, yeah, but then I waited for him outside."

Guilty or not, it wasn't a sex offense that landed Ortiz under the bridge. After spending eight years in jail for a burglary, he'd lived in Miami since 2003 with a spotless record until, this past June, he was caught riding a scooter without a license in Miami Beach. The officer, seeing Ortiz was a registered sex offender, took him to jail and, the cop claimed, found three Ecstasy pills on him — a violation of Ortiz's probation. The sentence: two years of state supervision, under the bridge.
------------------------

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Oh, yeah, THAT's caring for public safety.

I swear, some "tough on crime" people seem to prefer an increased risk of crimes than to abstain from satisfying their punishment fetish.

[AlCzervik]

8. omg, that has got to be one of the most f'd up stories i've read, what the hell?

how is this possible?

[Occulus]

10. kick

Sadly, I bet there are a lot of people on this very board who just don't care, and probably several who would say this is what they all deserve.

May they all one day receive the same treatment. Anyone who would support this is seriously sick in the head.

[Phillycat]

17. Really?

Tell you what. You go back to age three, get raped by your stepfather, and then get back to me. Kay? :eyes:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. i did. (not my stepfather, he is wonderful) and i disagree with you.

keeping people safe is one thing. giving us an illusion of safety is another.

this has nothing to do with safety but appearance of safety.

[Sugar Smack]

24. I'm sorry, janesez.

:hug: I believe people like that should be institutionalized & not put on the streets. I had a sicko mom, so I know what you mean.

[Richard Steele]

31. You'd do well to realize that everyone labeled "sex offender" isn't your stepfather. nm

[sniffa]

28. look up

[Dawggie]

9. Jesus, that is an abomination of civic duty.

K&R

[CT_Progressive]

11. Why don't they just post the bridge as their official address and live with their family...

... as a "visitor".

There is no law about them sleeping in a bed within 2500 feet of a school. The law says they can't LIVE there.

OK, so all they need to do is claim they "live" under the bridge, and then spend 99.99999% of their time in their families house.

Problem solved.

[Marrah_G]

14. They have a 10-6 curfew and the probation officer does random checks.

[CT_Progressive]

18. The curfew is unconstitutional, they should challenge it.

Easy win.

[Marrah_G]

19. I think being forced to be homeless could also be challenged pretty easily

[Richard Steele]

30. Right. Taking a case to the Supreme Court while living under a bridge is "easy". Right.

[AlCzervik]

16. some of that had on ankle monitors, i'm sure them going to their house would set that off.

[Tyler Durden]

12. Miami/Dade, Florida.

Not that they are unique. We are becoming less and less worthy of surviving as a nation.

[Marrah_G]

13. Why is it these stories always seem to come from Florida?

[Name removed]

15. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CT_Progressive]

21. School is open 8am to 3pm, yet they cant be near schools from 10pm to 6am. Severe Logic failure!

Their curfew should be from 8am to 3pm. Any time after that, they can be as close to a school as they want, there aint no kids there anymore!

What fucking dumbasses.

[Blue_Tires]

25. art becomes life

this is the RW wet dream...out of sight, out of mind, no one cares how or if they survive...how long before before the 'tough on crime' politicians decide to expand this to drug offenses and other things?

how many times have we seen this theme in sci-fi? "Escape from New York," anyone?

[DS1]

26. I think it's only a matter of time before they're attacked

and forced/burned out by vigilante mobs.

[fenriswolf]

27. this is the most f'd up part of it all

Commissioner Sosa refuses to revisit the ordinance. "I feel that I helped create a solution," she insists. Asked if she knows how many men are living under the bridge, she answers, "Yes, many.

"I guess that at some point, the system will have to address that issue," she concedes with vague cheerfulness. "But I am not ready to address that issue. Maybe another commissioner should address that issue.... Your question is: Am I going to do something? The answer is no."

the women responsible thinks that what she did was a great solution, but that they guys should not have to live under a bridge, but not her problem, shes gonna let the next guy take care of it because she doesnt care.

[OneBlueSky]

29. is this the United States of America? . . .

it's certainly not the country I grew up in . . . this is sick, insane, ultimately counterproductive, and a horrific indictment of where we are as a nation . . . to not only allow this to happen, but to mandate it? . . . what the hell have we become? . . .

beyond infuriating, this makes me sick . . .

[Nutmegger]

32. Brought to you by the 24/7 M$M "sex offender" frenzy,

Jackass repukes who tout the "tough on crime" crap, and those who vote for these bastards because they can't sleep at night until the gov'ment rounds up all them sex offenders.

It makes me sick.

When is this crap going to stop in this country? This just has to stop!

[Richard Steele]

33. Kick