The new law, LA officials hope, will be able to permanently prevent homeless people from sleeping in vehicles. However, if homeless people do want to sleep in their cars, they will have to obtain such a "privilege" if they pay the local government off. The authorities of Los Angeles intend to ban homeless individuals from sleeping in their cars, even in recreational vehicles. A similar ban was in effect in Los Angeles in the past. However, the local authorities found last year that the wording of the law was too vague and rescinded the bill.
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Mike Feuer, one of the proponents of the new measure says that charging homeless people to sleep in their cars would "strive to meet the City Council's goal to protect neighborhoods in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of the homeless."
In Los Angeles, as many as 5,000 people sleep in their cars across the city at any given moment, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
"There is a problem with putting people in jail for performing life-sustaining functions when there is no other place to do it," civil rights attorney Carol Sobel told the LA Times.
In the United States of America, being homeless is a crime. In some states, it is even considered illegal to give food to homeless people. Last year in Florida, police arrested a group of charity workers for breaking a newly imposed law against feeding the homeless.
Pravda.Ru
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