Sex Offenders and Argument

¶ … powerful abstract, rendered creatively by being written in the second person. Using second person engages the reader and encourages the reader to consider the deeper issues that are about to be addressed in the research. The author succinctly captures the issues related to reintegrating sex offenders into communities in safe and humane way, focusing on the case study in Miami-Dade County. Therefore, the abstract is ideal and goes beyond the typical abstract that dryly summarizes key findings and methodologies.

As with the rest of the paper, the opening sections are well written and there are no grammatical or stylistic problems. The introduction of the paper is brief and to the point, citing statistics that ground the argument in factual evidence. For example, the author mentions the number of registered sex offenders living in the United States and uses statistics from a credible organization. The author also shows how the law varies from state to state.

After the brief introduction, the author offers a background section, which is helpful in understanding the specific laws. It would have been extra beneficial if the author had mentioned whether these laws pertained only to the state of Florida or not, but other than that it is good to know that the issues are grounded in legal cases or legislation. Also in the background section, the author mentions the specific adverse impact of the sex offender registration laws.

Using citations and quotes helps to show that the material is not just the author's opinions but is actually substantiated by scholarly evidence. The section on Florida sex offenders directly applies to the issue of sex offenders living in Florida. One of the most interesting facts is related to the Lauren Book Child Safety Ordinance, which prevents registered sex offenders from living within 2500 feet of a school.

The problem with this law is the liberal definition of "school," leading to almost any business being potentially designated as a "school" and creating a NIMBY effect. If it were applied nationwide, this law would mean that sex offenders would essentially not be able to live anywhere. As a result of this and similar laws, registered sex offenders are homeless even when they have viable jobs and could otherwise afford housing.

Between Miami and Miami Beach, there are hundreds of homeless sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway and number in the hundreds. The author is clearly making the argument against these laws based on the fact that the current situation does nothing to help the community become any safer and could actually lead to more problems. The bulk of the paper is devoted to the visual analyses of photographs about the people living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

This section is strong, as the author provides ample analysis of the images in terms of the political implications and does not focus too much on aesthetics. One of the best things about this paper is that the author makes a clear argument about a controversial issue. Few people are willing to think critically about this issue, that sex offenders cannot be forced to live under the bridge and expect the society to be any safer. In fact, without access to housing and the methods of reintegration into the.