Judge backs Miami Beach’s midnight curfew during spring break, rejecting legal challenges
With big bucks being lost during spring break, a couple of Miami Beach establishments urged a judge on Friday afternoon to scale back the city’s “state of emergency” curfew that city officials say was necessary because of unruly crowds and two shootings last weekend that injured five people.
But they got no satisfaction — so the city’s midnight curfew that started Thursday will continue through Monday.
Read More: See what the first night of spring break curfew looked like
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Charles Johnson said he recognized “this is prime time” for the South Beach restaurants, nightclubs and bars, but he said the city has a “compelling interest” to keep the public safe during the peak of the tourist season. Johnson said he expected the two establishments, Papi Steak restaurant and Treehouse nightclub, to appeal his decision so a higher court could review their challenges immediately.
However, the lawyers for the two establishments could not pursue an appeal in a timely way over the weekend.
An attorney for Miami Beach said the 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed by the city manager serves to protect the public from potential violence in a “narrowly tailored” area extending from Government Cut to north of 23rd Street and from Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean.
“There were two shootings in the middle of crowds [this week],” assistant city attorney Henry Hunnefeld told the judge. “It’s a miracle there was not a loss of life.”
But the lawyers for Papi Steak, located south of Fifth Street, and Treehouse, located on the north side of 23rd Street, said the city’s curfew was “overly broad” under the state’s Constitution and that the gun violence occurred several blocks away from their establishments. They also said the curfew would cause serious financial hardships for the restaurant and club, including employees.
‘Deploying a machete’
“In their zeal to stop the party over spring break, they simply cast the net too broadly,” said Papi Steak’s attorney Paul Schwiep, who suggested that the curfew could be immediately reduced to an area from Fifth Street to 16th Street, the heart of Ocean Drive.
Treehouse’s lawyer said he agreed with Schwiep’s compromise, estimating that the nightclub stands to lose 20 percent of its total annual revenue this weekend because of the city’s curfew.
“They are going to put my client out of business,” said Treehouse’s attorney Richard Wolfe, saying the city should be using a “surgical scalpel” but instead is deploying a “machete.”
Spurred by two shootings that injured five people during last weekend’s spring break crowds, Miami Beach announced earlier this week a state of emergency and a nightly curfew to curtail crowds on South Beach. The curfew took effect Thursday at midnight to 6 a.m. and will be in effect overnight Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the same time periods.
Miami Beach declares state of emergency
Miami Beach, using the standard of “clear and present danger of a riot or other general public disorder,” declared the state of emergency on Tuesday. In the past, the city has made such declarations for hurricanes, a global pandemic and the catastrophic collapse of a condo tower in neighboring Surfside.
The city’s decision to elevate spring break crowd control into a community emergency drew sharp criticism from both restaurants, nightclubs and bars as well as Black customers who say the crowds have mostly been peaceful.
READ MORE: New spring break curfew order also cuts off buying alcohol at stores in South Beach
This month’s crowds — and racial tensions between residents and mostly Black visitors — are nothing new. Since the early 2000s, mostly Black crowds have flocked to South Beach for hip-hop events during the Memorial Day weekend, leading to criticism of heavy-handed police tactics.
But even then, city officials never instituted a state of emergency.
Local officials said the state of emergency was necessary because of the two shootings over two nights. “There are cowards out there toting guns,” City Manager Alina Hudak said during a press conference on Monday.
The following day, Miami Beach commissioners voiced support for extending the curfew through at least Monday.
The declaration is but the latest escalation in the city’s larger campaign to tamp down the partying that for years has defined South Beach’s nightlife. Last year during spring break, rowdy crowds vandalized property, jumped on police cars and blocked streets to party, leading to an 8 p.m. curfew in the main entertainment district between Fifth Street and 16th Street, bound by Ocean Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue.
That later spurred the Miami Beach City Commission to pass a controversial law that gave cops greater power to arrest people who get too close to them, a law that is now the subject of litigation over its constitutionality after it was used to arrest mostly Black people filming officers. As part of its tough-on-crime approach, the commission has also expanded its municipal prosecution program.
And, in its most visible effort, Miami Beach has sought to curtail booze in the entertainment district. In the past year, in a lawsuit brought by the famed Clevelander hotel, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko has twice struck down temporary bans on liquor sales after 2 a.m.
As part of the emergency rules it adopted earlier this week, the city said stores must stop selling alcohol as of 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday until the next morning. The emergency order does not include restrictions on beer, wine and liquor for Sunday evening, although the curfew will resume at midnight Sunday.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:05 PM.
