A 3-2 Vote Stripped Away the 24-hour Warning That Kept People Out of Jail. Now a Coalition Is Mobilizing to Reverse It.
Advocates for people who are homeless are planning to fight back against Miami’s new “catastrophic” encampment bill.
In late July, the Miami City Commission removed the 24-hour notice requirements from an existing ordinance prohibiting encampments on downtown property. The amendment only requires local police officers to provide a verbal warning to people living in encampments and give them a “reasonable amount of time” to leave an area before they can be arrested for sleeping outside. The amendment passed by a 3-2 vote despite widespread opposition from local advocacy groups.
“It was within that 24-hour period that outreach workers would connect with people who are homeless, and this is the reason why there have only been two arrests of the homeless under the current camping within the last 18 months,” David Peery, executive director of Florida Coalition to Advance Racial Equity, told Invisible People in an interview…