The Miami Seaside regulation used to arrest individuals who have been filming law enforcement officials has been challenged

After last year’s unruly spring break in South Beach, the Miami Beach City Commission passed an ordinance allowing the arrests of people who “interrupt” and get too close to police officers while they’re on the street. The result: Miami Beach police arrested over a dozen people, almost all black, and videotaping officers over a crowded weekend in July.

Since then, almost every such case has been quietly dropped. But in one of the few remaining cases, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers asked a court to dismiss the case against an Ohio tourist, saying the ordinance unconstitutionally penalizes the right to free speech.

Faced with an opportunity to defend the law in court, the Miami Beach prosecutor relented last week — and simply dropped the case.

The legal dispute over the validity of the controversial regulation is not yet over. FACDL has now filed the same challenge in another case, that of a homeless woman who was arrested over the same weekend. The legal challenge is just the latest point of tension surrounding the city of Miami Beach’s law enforcement program, which critics say is unfairly targeting minorities and the homeless.

“Everyone is brave at a commission meeting — but the real fight is in the courtroom,” said Alex Saiz of the Florida Justice Center, which represents the homeless woman and works with the FACDL. “There’s no way the city can think this law is constitutional, so it won’t support this law.”

The new challenge comes in the case of Rebecca Kowalcyzk, 48. No hearing date has yet been set for the constitutional complaint. The case will be heard by Miami-Dade County Judge Betsy Alvarez-Zane.

The Miami Beach City Commission, which aims to crack down on crime, has voted in recent months to dramatically expand the city’s law enforcement program, including prosecuting cases of assault, criminal mischief and indecent disclosure.

In the wake of a raucous spring break, the Miami Beach City Commission passed an ordinance in June making it illegal to “approach or remain within 20 feet” of a Miami Beach police officer with the “intent to alienate an officer performing lawful duties.” to hinder, provoke or harass”. , after receiving a warning. It is punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to 60 days in prison.

But the ordinance only attracted widespread attention after a series of crude and questionable arrests at the Royal Palm Hotel on July 26. In a case that drew national attention, two New York men were arrested under the same ordinance while videotaping police officers at the hotel.

As a result, five Miami Beach police officers have been charged with assault after prosecutors said they used excessive force during arrests. Prosecutors dropped both warrants against the New York men, who were also charged with state crimes. Prosecutors will handle the municipal cases when they are accompanied by state indictments.

The Miami Beach Police Department urged the ordinance to be implemented in time to cope with expected crowds in the city for the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival. A Herald review of 13 arrests this weekend found all were black and most were people officers were filming.

Court records show that prosecutors — state and local — have dropped all 13 cases under the ordinance. This includes the case of Janae Senterswanson, 23, who was arrested after cops said she refused to leave the “20ft” zone as officers investigated a disturbance on Ocean Drive. The case lingered for months when the Florida Justice Center, which represents people for free, pledged to represent them.

The FACDL also got involved and filed a motion to dismiss the case. She said: “There’s no way a 20-foot no-go zone could be constitutionally declared ‘right now’ in a city as packed with tourists as Miami Beach.

“It criminalizes a significant amount of innocent conduct,” wrote FACDL attorney Dan Tibbitt. “The bottom line is that Americans have the right to be within 20 feet of police officers and the right to engage in behavior that may anger officers.”

And he argued the regulation’s language was so vague that it criminalized freedom of expression. “How is a citizen supposed to know what constitutes intent to ‘harass’ a police officer rather than lawfully objecting to him?” he wrote.

However, the Miami Beach City Attorney’s Office did not fight for the ordinance in her case. Instead, the charges were dropped six months after Senterswanson’s arrest last Monday. The city insisted in a statement that it had nothing to do with the constitutional challenge.

“Although the Police Department had a probable cause for Ms Senterswanson’s arrest, after a thorough review of the case, it was decided that the City should not proceed with this prosecution based on the evidence available and the totality of the circumstances,” the city said. “Nevertheless, the city remains confident in the validity of its ordinance and stands ready to defend its constitutionality against any challenge.”

The city didn’t explain why it took six months to decide the case was too weak to prosecute.

David Ovalle reports crime and courts in Miami. A native of San Diego, he graduated from the University of Southern California and joined the Herald in 2002 as a sportscaster.