Officials have warned that Florida counties and cities will likely be hit with a “tsunami of lawsuits” thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis’ new law targeting the state’s homelessness crisis.
Many critics have come out against DeSantis’ law, which soon goes into effect, as it will just make things difficult for those who are homeless and Florida counties alike.
DeSantis’ New Homeless Law
Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill into law that will criminalize people sleeping in public spaces.
Therefore, Florida counties must now find a way to move many homeless people who sleep in public spaces and on the streets. However, many counties cannot find accurate establishments to house these homeless people.
A Nearing Deadline
This law will officially go into effect on October 1st. Many Florida counties have come out to explain that they are struggling to prepare for this deadline.
Some cities have theorized about creating homeless encampments, as many of their municipalities do not have shelter capacity for all of their unhoused people. However, they likely won’t have these encampments ready by the deadline.
Fort Lauderdale Struggles
Fort Lauderdale is one city that has openly struggled with finding a solution before the law goes into effect.
At a recent city commission, officials suggested creating encampments in David Beckham’s soccer stadium’s parking lot, as well as putting one on the roof of the city hall. However, nothing was officially decided on.
The City vs the State
The mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Dean Trantalis, has explained how his city is scrambling to comply with this law.
“The city is at an impasse because while the state has handed all the communities this draconian mandate, it failed to provide a remedy to partner with us in which to fulfill their expectations,” he said.
Making Needed Changes
Trantalis further added that while the city has made quite a lot of changes, the state’s law has put an enormous burden on them.
He explained, “We’re doing our best to try to address it. We’ve staffed our police department, our civilian homeless outreach program, we’ve doubled it this past year, because we feel it’s a priority. But the mandate from the state is an onerous burden.”
Florida Cities May Lose Money
The mayor also pointed out that this new law allows any Florida citizen to sue the city if they see that people sleeping on the street are not being taken away.
“Any private citizen can sue if the city fails to remedy an encampment situation,” he said. “This is going to be a cottage industry for a whole new level of lawyers who feel they could take money out of the city instead of applying it towards helping the homeless.”
A Tsunami of Lawsuits
These lawsuits could end up hurting Florida cities, especially as more money will be going to legal challenges, rather than finding a solution to the homelessness crisis.
Trantalis added, “This is going to be a tsunami of lawsuits that’s going to hit all the cities, and again, will it benefit the homeless? Of course not.”
Police Fight Back
Gregory Tony, Broward County’s sheriff, has also come out against the idea of criminalizing and arresting homeless people because they’re sleeping on the streets.
As a result, he’s ordered jail deputies to reject homeless people brought in for these “municipal ordinance violations.”
Jail Isn’t a Solution
Tony wrote an opinion piece about this issue, explaining that arresting unhoused people in Florida won’t help solve any problem.
“Homelessness is not a crime, and the county jail system is not a solution to the homeless crisis,” Tony said. “Arrest and jail are not options this community can afford or that a homeless person deserves. We can do better.”
Coming Together for Solutions
Many homelessness activists have also had major issues with DeSantis’ law, as they believe it will only further worsen the homelessness crisis the state is struggling with.
The Lord’s Place chief executive Diana Stanley said, “We should be coming together to come up with solutions, not taking punitive approaches.”
A State Power Grab?
Legal experts have insinuated that this law by DeSantis is nothing but a political move and a state power grab. To these critics, the law doesn’t actually solve any issue or help the homelessness crisis in the state.
University of Miami law professor Stephen Schnably said, “If the state were serious, it also wouldn’t be holding this sword of Damocles over local governments with the lawsuits, there’d be a comprehensive plan.”
