Stone v. City of Fort Lauderdale

(S.D. Fla., J. Dimitrouleas)

In May 2017, the City of Fort Lauderdale designed a plan to temporarily close Stranahan Park and the camp adjacent to the park by clearing out all debris and personal property belonging to residents of the camp. Sixteen individuals experiencing homelessness filed suit alleging that the City unlawfully seized and destroyed the plaintiffs’ property during the City’s property sweep of the Stranahan park camp, and did not provide residents of the camp advance notice of the sweep, nor any means to retrieve their property to avoid the destruction of their belongings. During the surprise raid, they lost personal belongings that are critical to their survival, such as medications, clothing, blankets, tents, tools, and irreplaceable possessions like identification documents, family photographs and keepsakes. The City used industrial equipment to evacuate the park and disposed of plaintiffs’ belongings at the dump. The parties reached a mediated monetary settlement for compensation for the destruction of their personal property. We co-counseled with the ACLU of Florida.

SLC Attorney Kirsten Anderson discussing lawsuit with co-counsel Jackie Azis from the ACLU-FL: