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TIME - Man of the Year
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CompactPublishing-TimeMagazine-TimeManOfTheYear-Win31MSDOS.iso
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113092
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11309922.000
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEKSOCIETY, Page 23Zone, Sweet Zone
A federal judge orders Miami to create arrest-free homeless
havens
A house is not a home when you're living in a cardboard box.
Or when city officials want to sweep you away like litter when
the tourists come to town. In a ruling designed to offer some
civil rights, if not civility, to the homeless, a federal judge
in Miami has ordered the city to set up two "safe zones," where
those without addresses can eat, sleep and bathe without being
arrested. Although the decision applies to Miami, similar legal
challenges to anti-vagrancy laws are under way in Las Vegas, San
Francisco, New York and elsewhere, and the Miami case breaks
ground. Miami officials say they'll appeal the decision, and
Vice Mayor Miriam Alonso says the judgment is bad for the city:
"Homelessness is not the best image for tourism or business or
the community at large." Miami also faces a shot in the
pocketbook: the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking
damages for the homeless of as much as $50 million.