For years, residents of Seminole Heights have been frustrated in their efforts to protect their neighborhoods and home values from trolling prostitutes. Despite neighborhood watches and police vigilance, the problem remained. It remained endemic.
Not wanting to concede the status quo–or a compromised quality of life for residents–police went to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office for legal help. The revolving door approach had obviously been self-defeating and unfair to home owners. The SAO responded with a three convictions and you’re out–of the neighborhood–penalty for repeat offenders. They would be banned from the hood–and subject to arrest for violating the exclusionary-zone ban, which would be a condition of probation. There was precedent.
Residents and prosecutors, by all accounts, like it. The hookers and the American Civil Liberties Union, by all accounts, don’t.
“The government has no right to tell people what part of town they should be hanging out in,” John Dingfelder, senior attorney with the Mid Florida Regional Office of the ACLU, told the Tampa Tribune.
It’s likely that rationale won’t go over well with those with the most to lose–and are tired of continually losing it.