"We 'R' Not Monsters." "They Treat Animals Better!!!"

These are the words of a href=”http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/06/parolees.bridge.ap/index.html”sex offenders living under a bridge /a in Florida (a href=”http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2008/02/catch-22nd-street-bridge.html”Hat tip: Tam/a):br /br /blockquoteThe state of Florida is trying to dissolve a community of sex offenders living under a bridge that includes a gym, kitchen, living room and two dogs…br /br /The men have lived under the Julia Tuttle Causeway for a year. They say limited money and strict local ordinances make it nearly impossible for them to live anywhere else.br /br /But state officials are telling them to leave.br /br /”We’re urging them to find a residence. We want them to be able to reintegrate into society,” said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Corrections Department….br /br /Juan Carlos Martin, a 29-year-old on the sex offender list for lewd or lascivious exhibition to a victim under the age of 16 — a crime he says he didn’t commit — said it’s been impossible for him to leave the bridge. He has been rejected from 15 jobs because of his record and can’t find a place he can afford that’s in compliance with the law.br /br /Martin sits on his couch and sucks on a cigarette as a tiny white kitten peaks out from behind a stereo that no longer works. A gold crucifix hangs from his neck. He is off probation now, but he says he feels no freedom.br /br /”What the law’s doing to us is totally wrong,” said Martin, who has lived here about six months. “Society will see that we aren’t animals.”/blockquotebr /br /Tam has a a href=”http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2008/02/catch-22nd-street-bridge.html”good question /ain relation to the bridge dwellers: “What happens when the state turns someone out of prison, won’t let them live anywhere near anyplace children might be, but doesn’t want them living under a bridge, either?”br /br /Where can they go?