Pottinger v. City of Miami
| Citation | 40 F.3d 1155 |
| Decision Date | 07 December 1994 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 91-5316,92-5145,s. 91-5316 |
| Parties | Michael POTTINGER, Peter Carter, Berry Young, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF MIAMI, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
Leon M. Firtel, Kathryn S. Peco, Asst. City Attys. and Theresa L. Girten, Miami, FL, for appellant.
Kraig A. Conn, Nancy Ann M. Stuparich, and Harry Morrison, Jr., Tallahassee, FL, for amicus, Fla. League of Cities.
Thomas K. Braun, Becky S. James and Frieda A. Taylor, O'Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles, CA, for amicus, Nat'l Coalition for the Homeless.
Benjamin S. Waxman, ACLU, Robbins, Tunkey, Ross, Amsel & Raben; Jeffrey S. Weiner, Miami, FL, and Stephen J. Schnably, University of Miami Law School, Coral Gables, FL, for appellees.
Maria Foscarinis, Washington, DC, for amicus Nat. Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
William T. O'Neil, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, for amicus.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before HATCHETT and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and FAY, Senior Circuit Judge.
In this class action lawsuit on behalf of homeless persons in the Miami, Florida area, we remand for limited purposes, including clarification of the terms of the injunction and an update of the facts.
A group of homeless persons filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida alleging that the City of Miami, Florida (the city), has a policy of harassing homeless people for sleeping, eating, and performing life sustaining activities in public places. In addition, the class asserted that the city routinely seizes and destroys its members' property and fails to follow its inventory procedures when confiscating personal property.
Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, the class asserts that the city's activities constitute cruel and unusual punishment, malicious abuse of process, and unlawful searches and seizures, in violation of due process, the right to privacy, and the Equal Protection Clause. The class prayed for declaratory judgment, compensatory damages, and reasonable attorneys fees. Additionally, the class sought to enjoin the city from arresting homeless people for conducting necessary life sustaining activities and from destroying their personal property.
The district court ruled that the city's practice of arresting homeless individuals for harmless life sustaining activities that they are forced to perform in public is unconstitutional because the arrests constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, reach innocent conduct in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and burden the fundamental right to travel in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The court also determined that the city's practice of seizing and destroying the property of homeless people without following its written procedures for found or seized property violates the class's Fourth Amendment rights.
As relief, the district court ordered the following: (1) the parties must meet and establish two safe zones where homeless people may remain without being arrested for harmless activities; (2) the city's police department may not arrest homeless people for performing harmless life sustaining acts in the two designated safe zones; (3) the city may not arrest homeless people for sleeping or eating in two primary locales until the parties agree upon the location of the new safe zones; (4) the city's police department may not destroy homeless persons' property; (5) the city must follow its written procedures governing the handling of personal property; and (6) the city must provide the public with five days notice before cleaning parks to enable homeless people to move their property to a nearby place the city may...
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Jones v. City of Los Angeles
...suffered convictions); Pottinger v. City of Miami, 810 F.Supp. 1551, 1559-60 (S.D.Fla.1992) (same), remanded for limited purposes, 40 F.3d 1155 (11th Cir.1994). Notwithstanding this well-established Supreme Court authority, the City urges us to follow the Fifth Circuit, which has based its ......
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Joel v. City of Orlando, No. 99-14535
...1551, 1578 (S.D.Fla.1992) (indicating in dicta that homeless might constitute a suspect class), remanded for limited purposes, 40 F.3d 1155 (11th Cir.1994), and directed to undertake settlement discussions, 76 F.3d 1154 (1996). Consequently, rational basis review is The rational basis test ......
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Pottinger v. City of Miami, 14–13287.
...should be modified in light of ... events [that transpired subsequent to its order granting the injunction].” Pottinger v. City of Miami, 40 F.3d 1155, 1157 (11th Cir.1994). On remand, the district court conducted an evidentiary hearing and ruled that the injunction would remain in effect b......
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Hill v. Butterworth, 97-2192
...order, we remand this case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See Pottinger v. City of Miami, 40 F.3d 1155, 1157 (11th Cir.1994) (remanding case to the district court because new facts surfaced at oral argument). 8 REMANDED. * Honorable Jerome Farris......