It's Bridge, Sweet Bridge for County Sex Offenders
County wins pivotal battle against Julia Tuttle sex offenders
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A view of one of the many sexual offenders that lives under the Julia Tuttle causeway bridge due to zoning restrictions that leave them nowhere else to go.
A Miami judge dismissed a lawsuit by the ACLU against Miami-Dade County that would have forced county officials to loosen restrictions on where convicted sex offenders could live.
Thursday's decision sends the ACLU and the sex offenders back to square one and stuck under the HJulia Tuttle bridge for the time being. But that could all change if the county wins its battle with state officials to boot the convicts from the tent city.
In Miami-Dade, sex offenders can't live within 2,500 feet of anywhere a kid would usually show up like a school, church or playground. That's almost three times as strict a rule as the state's requirement, which only requires a 1,000-foot buffer.
Homeless advocates claimed the county's ordinance made it impossible for felons to find housing because it eliminated all areas.
The ACLU said it would appeal the judge's decision.
