Miami could pay homeless $1.5 mil. in ACLU settlement

Jet, Jan 12, 1998

In a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the city of Miami will pay $1,500 to every homeless resident who can prove Miami police violated their rights since 1984.

The settlement, which may cost Miami as much as $1.5 million, is a result of a suit filed by the ACLU against the city for its 1980s-era pol 5,000 homeless people and calls for Miami to pay $600,000 to the homeless (an estimated 400 claims) and another $900,000 in attorney fees to the ACLU.

The deal requires police officers to undergo special training on the circumstances and rights of the homeless, but it still allows officers to arrest those who refuse to go to a shelter or who loiter.