November 22nd, 2006

Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of Orlando
400 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32802-4990
Orlando City Hall

Fax.: (407) 246-3613

Dear Mayor and City Commissioners:

As you know, last Friday, November 17, employees from the Orlando Sanitation Department, together with officers from the Orlando Police Department, seized and destroyed the personal property of dozens of homeless people in the downtown area. This brazen violation of the constitutional rights of homeless men and women here in our city is another unfortunate example of your lack of compassion for those in need.

In the name of decency, the Constitution of the United States, and in the spirit of this holiday season, the Central Florida ACLU, the Stop The Ordinance Partnership (S.T.O.P.), and its member groups, including Orlando Food Not Bombs and the First Vagabonds Church of God, demand that you immediately stop taking and destroying the personal possessions of Orlandoís dispossessed. In addition, we demand that you adequately compensate the several victims of your unconstitutional taking for their losses.

The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution is clear: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." However, last November 17th, the rights of many homeless people were deliberately violated. During the police-supervised action, life necessities such as clothing, blankets and medications as well as irreplaceable possessions like personal papers and family photographs were taken and destroyed. City employees have denied that any such items were taken, but eyewitnesses and affidavits from victims strongly contradict this denial.

What is worse, the city employees instructed to carry out this action laughed at the people who were crying and begging for their possessions. The behavior of the city employees was cold, callous and appalling. The wanton destruction of the few meager items possessed by these unsheltered homeless people affects their health, safety and, perhaps, their very lives. The loss of clothes and medicine threatens their already precarious existence by posing health and safety hazards; in addition, the prospect of such losses may discourage them from leaving the parks and other areas to seek work, food or medical attention.

Furthermore, a police impound lot is located only a few yards away from where the seizures took place, and we do not understand why the seized items could not have been stored there until the owners could claim them. While it is true that the City has the authority to clean its public spaces, it simply may not do so in a way that violates peopleís constitutional rights.

While losing a few items may cause an inconvenience for most of us, it can be devastating to the homeless, who have so little and need practically all of it just to survive.

Other cities have managed to safeguard homeless peopleís constitutional rights while beautifying urban areas. Orlando can and should do the same, although the City Council will first have to abandon its strategy of trying to alleviate homelessness by criminalizing the homeless. In light of Orlandoís unpopular anti-food sharing ordinance, the policy of incarcerating homeless people for dubious reasons, and now this policy of seizing and destroying the possessions of homeless people, we can only conclude that the City of Orlando has declared war against the homeless and not against homelessness.

In closing, we are prepared to go to court to seek a resolution to this important matter, but we also believe that the matter can resolved through the dialogue that the City has repeatedly said it welcomes. If the City is truly open to discuss these issues, we are eager to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.

Sincerely,

George Crossley
President
ACLU Central Florida Chapter
Member of Orlando's Stop The Ordinance Partnership

Note: If a response letter is received from the City, it will be posted.