COMFORTS OF HOME

LA Living-In-Car Ban Thrown Out

After 31 years.

A 31-year-old ban on people living in parked cars was thrown out by a federal appeals court on Thursday, declaring that the law discriminates against the homeless and poor. The ruling said the law is too ambiguous as to what is a violation and "criminalizes innocent behavior." Three men and a woman who were cited and arrested in LA by an LAPD homelessness task force brought the suit against the city. They police decided that keeping their belongings in their RVs and cars were against the law. "Is it impermissible to eat food in a vehicle? Is it illegal to keep a sleeping bag? Canned food? Books? What about speaking on a cellphone? Or staying in the car to get out of the rain?" the judges' decision said. "These are all actions plaintiffs were taking when arrested for violation of the ordinance, all of which are otherwise perfectly legal."