The Mission: Housing Not Handcuffs
This legislation is a direct response to the June 28, 2024, Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which allowed for the punishment of homeless individuals—including Gloria Johnson herself—even when no alternative shelter exists. The Gloria Johnson Anti-Cruelty to Floridians Experiencing Homelessness Act asserts a different path for Florida. Our mission is to prioritize evidence-based approaches focused on housing and services rather than policing responses, ensuring that no Floridian is punished for the involuntary biological necessity of seeking shelter.
Defining the Problem: The Failure of Criminalization
The “Whereas” declarations of this Act outline the systemic failures of current punitive policies:
- Ineffectiveness: Fining and jailing individuals who have nowhere to go does not advance public safety or stop homelessness; instead, it creates a vicious cycle of debt and incarceration that makes accessing housing and employment even more difficult.
- Torture and Harm: International human rights monitors recognize that arresting individuals for life-sustaining behaviors like sleeping—which can lead to sleep deprivation, exposure, and death—is a form of cruel and inhuman treatment.
- Systemic Roots: Homelessness is caused by a systemic lack of affordable housing and low-barrier emergency shelters, not individual fault.
- Misplaced Resources: Decriminalizing rest allows local governments to redirect funds from law enforcement toward addressing root causes like poverty and economic hardship.
The Gloria Johnson Act offers a comprehensive legislative response to these failures, establishing clear protections and shifting the burden of proof away from vulnerable individuals.
The Solutions: Permitted Use of Public Lands (Sec. 3)
The Act establishes clear statutory rights for all persons experiencing homelessness to use public spaces without discrimination:
- Right to Life-Sustaining Activities: Individuals have the right to move, sit, stand, sleep, and eat on public land, provided they do not obstruct traffic in a hazardous manner.
- Protection of Property: Personal property stored in public places is protected from unreasonable search and seizure, with privacy protections equivalent to those for property in a private dwelling.
- Freedom of Survival: No civil or criminal sanctions may be issued for soliciting or sharing food, water, or donations in public.
- Vehicle Residency: Individuals have the right to occupy a motor or recreational vehicle parked on public property for life-sustaining activities.
- Access to Alternatives: These rights remain in effect unless “adequate alternative indoor space” is both available and offered to the individual, including transportation for them and their belongings.
The Burden of Proof: The Necessity Defense (Sec. 2)
To ensure these protections are enforceable, the Act introduces the Necessity Defense:
- Affirmative Defense: It is a legal defense to any charge of violating an ordinance criminalizing life-sustaining behavior if the individual had no access to an adequate alternative indoor space.
- Shifted Responsibility: Once this defense is raised, the law presumes that adequate space did not exist. The prosecution must then prove otherwise—that an actual, adequate bed was available and offered to the individual.
- Court Responsibility: Courts are required to notify charged individuals of the availability of this defense and provide instruction on how to raise it.
What This Means in Practice
Under current law, a person sleeping in their car can be fined or arrested, leading to a criminal record that makes finding housing nearly impossible. Under the Gloria Johnson Act, that same person cannot be punished unless the government can prove it offered them access to safe, adequate shelter—including space for their belongings and transportation to get there. If that proof doesn’t exist, the charge must be dismissed.
Putnam County Homelessness Solutions Coalition 