Liz Seymour pointed me to an online article about a group of Miami activists who “liberated” public land to feed and house homeless people, because the community was unable or unwilling to help. And what really got my attention was this:

“Miami police tried to evict us, but, having done our research in advance with lawyers, we had the law on our side.”

I followed a link to an article in the Miami Herald which says:

“…the group is protected by a landmark legal case, Pottinger v. City of Miami, a class-action suit filed by the ACLU and settled in 1998. The settlement prohibited Miami police from arresting homeless people engaged in ‘life-sustaining conduct’ — such as sleeping or eating — on public property when there is no shelter space available.”

FYI: There is no shelter space available for more than half of the homeless population in Greensboro on any given night. So, anybody have a list of vacant lots that are public property? And no, I’m not kidding.

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