MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (AP) — Hermine Ricketts, whose lengthy legal battle led to passage of a new bill that allows Floridians to grow vegetables in their front yards, has died. She was 63.
The Institute for Justice confirmed Ricketts died Saturday after a long illness. The organization represented Ricketts during her six-year court battle over her garden. The new law took effect July 1.
In 2013, the Miami Shores Village Council amended its zoning codes to prohibit residents from having front-yard vegetable gardens.
They told Ricketts she must uproot all of her previously planted vegetables, or face a $50 daily fine. An appeals court backed the village before the Florida Legislature stepped in to legalize the gardens.
Ricketts is survived by her husband, Tom Carroll. They lived in their Miami Shores home for 26 years.