In March 2024, the Legislature passed HB 1365, which prohibits local governments’ authority to allow homeless encampments on public properties. This is one of the many “out of sight, out of mind” approaches by anti-vagrancy laws that have been passed in the United States since 2019. The law essentially criminalizes people for not being able to afford accommodations for survival, thereby punishing unhoused people under the guise of criminal justice and public safety. The law allows residents and businesses to sue governments that permit Floridians who are experiencing homelessness to take refuge in public places. The bill also authorizes municipalities to create encampments for Floridians who are homeless, and, contingent on the municipality’s funding, also requires that safety measures be established at these camps. HB 1365 was passed without any funding provisions.
In April 2024, the Supreme Court heard the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon, v. Johnson, which involved a municipality’s authority to ban encampments on public properties. At the crux of the issue was the consideration that such a law was unconstitutional and violated the Eighth Amendment (see, Pottinger). The Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision deemed that it was not a violation, as homelessness does not qualify as a protected “status” under provisions of the Eighth Amendment. This decision justified the normalization of future encampment bans similar to HB 1365.