Judge Orders Miami ‘Safe Zones’ Where Homeless Won’t Be Rousted

A federal judge Monday ordered Miami to provide two “safe zones” where homeless people can eat and sleep without being arrested.

The ruling came in a 1988 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said police arrested homeless people to drive them from public view before such events as the Orange Bowl and Super Bowl drew tourists and national attention to the city.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the city’s estimated 6,000 homeless people.

“I know I can sleep safe now,” said Peter Smith, a 25-year-old homeless man. “There’ll be no problem with (police) messing with me.”

James Rivers, 48, a Miami native living on the streets for four years, also welcomed the court order. “It’s the right idea. You can’t put everybody in jail,” he said.

But Rivers said he still expected police would “come around and pull your stuff out in the streets.”

U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins told the two sides to meet within 15 days to establish two “safe zones where homeless people who have no alternative shelter can remain without being arrested for harmless conduct.”

He told both sides to try to agree on sites near feeding programs, health clinics and other services that help the homeless and to report back in 30 days.

ACLU state Director Robyn Blumner said she was ecstatic with the ruling, and said the judge “has blazed the future path of homeless rights. He has recognized that police power must have limits and that citizens who do not have homes must nonetheless be free to exist.”