‘Living in Florida, we don’t often have the opportunity to use the heat setting on our thermostat, but this winter we got the chance in a big way. And as a matter of fact, so many people in my neighborhood were using heaters that it blew out the transformer.
So there I was with my wife and three kids, all of us huddled under blankets with the fireplace roaring, watching the temperature continue to drop from a comfortable 65 degrees down to 45. But outside it was 17 degrees and raining and sleeting, and if you were homeless, you had to consider that if you used a blanket to shield yourself from the elements, that you might be hauled off to jail for a violation of a local ordinance prohibiting using blankets, cardboard, or newspaper to cover yourself.’
This was part of a series of ordinances which prohibited using public restrooms for washing your face, panhandling, and “camping”. Though the mayor’s office and members of the city council tried to say that these ordinances were not targeted at the homeless, email correspondence between them and other city officials proved otherwise.’
Read more: Florida Ordinance Makes It Illegal For Homeless To Use Blankets
