Homeless in Miami? If you are, your Pottinger rights against arrest while living on the streets may soon be changed. You can voice your opinion to the federal court in Miami before it decides whether to approve the proposed changes.
Your Pottinger rights now: If you’re homeless, Miami police must offer you the chance to go to a shelter in Miami instead of arresting you for certain offenses. These currently include:
- being in the park after hours or camping in parks
- building fires in parks or putting up a tent in a park
- lying or sleeping on the sidewalks or on park benches
- trespassing on public property
- littering
- loitering in restrooms
- living in a vehicle
City police, the “Green Shirts,” and other City officials must also respect your property rights.
What the proposed changes to Pottinger may mean for you:
- For most homeless people, Pottinger rights will remain largely the same: City of Miami Police must offer you the chance to go to a shelter instead of arresting you for cetain offenses.
- If the court approves the proposed changes, some rights against arrest will be eliminated or narrowed. These are
- the main changes:
- You’ll be subject to arrest without being offered the chance to go to a shelter if, after a warning by a police officer, you:
- litter within 300 feet of a usable trash can, or
- block a sidewalk so that others have to walk in the street, or
- commit a minor offense in a way that poses an imminent threat of physical injury to you or others.
- You’ll be subject to arrest, with no warning by a police officer and without being offered the chance to go to a shelter, if you:
- build a fire in a public park or put up a tent in a park, or
- violate public nudity laws intentionally in plain view or don’t use an open public restroom with-in a quarter mile.
- The shelter you are offered instead of arrest may have a mat instead of a bed to sleep on.
- You’ll be subject to arrest without being offered the chance to go to a shelter if, after a warning by a police officer, you:
- City officials can’t take your belongings unless they pose an obvious safety hazard (for example, leaving an unattended backpack in front of a courthouse).
- If you are homeless and registered as a sex offender or predator, you will no longer be afforded the Pottinger protections.
- The ACLU will have better access to records to monitor City compliance.
If you agree with these changes, you don’t need to do anything.