OFFICIALS Evict a soldier’s pregnant wife & DEMOLISH his home while he was away preparing for deployment hundreds of miles away

A federal judge has slammed Miami-Dade County for refusing to delay demolition of a soldier’s home while he trained in California for deployment to the Middle East. The soldier’s kids and pregnant wife were kicked to the curb and the house was razed in 2011 after U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jesus Jimenez did not heed numerous county requests to fix building code violations.

Staff Sergeant Jimenez had repeatedly asked for extensions to fix the problems while training or on a mission. At one point his commanding military officer also weighed in, asking to officials to stay the hearing 90 days while Jimenez was conducting training on how to defuse improvised explosive devices in Iraq. The family was able to save some of their belongings, but much of what they owned was lost–including a piano–when the home was demolished.

‘They didn’t care,’ 32-year-old Laura Jimenez told the Miami Herald. U.S. Judge Robert Scola Jr. sided with the father of four, last week, scheduling a September trial to decide what the county owes Jimenez. But he urged both sides to first attempt a settlement. At issue is a World War II-era law, reinstated in 2003, that allows for the temporary suspension of legal or administrative proceedings that could affect active duty military members’ civil rights.

‘While it is possible that the Jimenezes employed dilatory tactics to avoid remedying the violations on their property and complying with the applicable building ordinances,’ Scola wrote, ‘their behavior does not negate the (county’s) failure to stay the proceedings….’

More