Don't Think Of Them As Homeless...

...More Like Undocumented Neighbors...

"Los Angeles’ policy of arresting homeless people for sitting, lying or sleeping on public sidewalks as “an unavoidable consequence of being human and homeless without shelter” violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and punishment, a federal appeals court ruled today.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, decided in favor of six homeless persons, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. The suit challenged the city’s practice of arresting persons for violating a municipal ordinance, which states that “no person shall sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or public way.”

The appeals court ruled that the manner in which the city has enforced the ordinance has criminalized “the status of homelessness by making it a crime to be homeless,” and thereby violated the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
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Only in California. Stop on over to Stop and get the full gist of the latest legislation from loonsville. This is so very bizzare as to warrant a fullblown blogfest of it's own to sort out precisely what it was that the 9th Circuit Justices were smoking.

As a sidenote, it's good to know that if I'm ever in LA and the hotels are packed I can flop pretty much anywhere on any street I so desire. Hell, it might even take away some business from these leeches.

Then again, nah. Not everyone relishes the thought of catching a few winks and hoping, praying, that someone stops to fuck around.

The LA streets simply MUST be the safest anywhere in the world though, right? I mean, it's against the law to carry a gun there, so it's not like you'd get shot or anything.

Right?