08/12/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1WQ3cjYakG/?mibextid=wwXIfr
In parts of the United States, sleeping in your own car can get you arrested.
A growing number of cities and states have passed laws making it illegal to sleep in a vehicle on public property. Even when it's your only home.
Tennessee made it a felony. Anyone caught sleeping in a car on state property for more than three hours can face up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine. Florida passed a statewide ban in 2024 that makes sleeping in a car illegal unless it's registered, insured, and parked in a designated camping spot or on private land with the owner's permission. In Hawaii, it's illegal to sleep in your car between 6pm and 6am.
Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Fresno have all enacted their own versions. In Fresno, sleeping on any public property at any time can carry up to a year in jail. Over 100 US cities passed similar bans in 2024 alone, with dozens more pending.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Grants Pass v. Johnson that these laws do not violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Justice Sotomayor dissented, writing: "Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime."
For the thousands of people whose car is their only shelter, the options keep shrinking 👀
