Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Los Angeles Law Prohibiting People From Living in Cars

Details

Publish Date:
June 19, 2014
Author(s):
Source:
The Wall Street Journal
Related Person(s):
Michele Landis Dauber

Summary

Professor Michele Dauber weighs in on the implications of federal appeals court ruling striking down a Los Angeles law that prohibited people from living in vehicles for The Wall Street Journal.

A federal appeals court has struck down a Los Angeles law prohibiting people from living in their vehicles, a ruling that could affect similar laws in numerous cities.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the ban, in place since 1983, is unconstitutionally vague and leads to discriminatory enforcement against the homeless.

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A similar ban in the wealthy Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto “would clearly be in violation of the law as established by Judge Pregerson’s opinion,” said Michele Dauber, a Stanford Law School professor who has been challenging the Palo Alto law.