Arrests of homeless people in Miami Beach for violating new anticamping laws sharply spiked in February, according to public records obtained by Reason.
In one particular week in mid-February, arrests of homeless people made up two-thirds of all arrests in Miami Beach.
The numbers are a glimpse into enforcement of anticamping laws in the city that became a model for the rest of Florida. And Florida is now leading a national crackdown following a Supreme Court decision that it's not cruel or unusual punishment to criminalize sleeping in public, even when there was no other shelter available. When Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a statewide law last year banning cities from allowing camping in public, he chose Miami Beach for the location.
