MIAMI — Two months ago, Miami Beach’s city prosecutor told a court it would defend a constitutional challenge to a controversial ordinance used to repeatedly arrest people who were filming police officers on city streets. The much-anticipated legal showdown was finally set for Wednesday.
But as it has before, Miami Beach ducked the fight.
Instead, the prosecutor walked into court on Wednesday to announce the city was dropping the case against a woman who’d been charged 10 months ago under the law, which allowed for the arrest of people who “interrupt” and get too close to cops. The move was blasted by the Florida Association of Defense Lawyers and the Florida Justice Center, which has sought to use the case to strike down the ordinance they believe is unconstitutional and criminalizes protected free speech.
