Thread: AL: ACLU Opposes Occupancy Ordinance

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ACLU Opposes Occupancy Ordinance
WIAT Channel 42
Jan 19, 18:38 PM EST

The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting an ordinance in Pelham that took effect this week. It limits the number of occupants in residential structures. The ACLU says it raises questions of privacy and equal protection.

The ordinance took effect on January 14th, making it illegal for renters in Pelham to have more than two adults per bedroom. The city passed the ordinance on January 8th to help control overcrowding, and provide sanitary, safe and healthy living.

The Pelham city council is requiring property owners to keep a registry of people who live in a rented residence, including, if they're an adult or child. "I think that if you're infringing upon your neighbors with the number of people in an apartment, I think it's a good idea to have this ordinance," said resident Edward Solomon.

The new ordinance isn't getting unanimous support. The ACLU calls Ordinance 429 constitutionally flawed, and an invasion of privacy and equal protection. "I would assume that all citizens would in some way be very disturbed by the government saying, tell us who's in your bedroom and we're going to maintain a registry of that," said ACLU Board of Directors President Anil Mujumdar. The ACLU wants the ordinance rescinded. The group states that there's no rational reason to single out renters and treat them differently than property owners.

Others are expressing concerns about the ordinance's impact on the Hispanic community. Many people believe it creates an anti-immigrant sentiment. "These folks would love to be able to go out and rent suitable housing, but they're no different than any other ethnic group that has come to this country and is starting at the very bottom of the economic scale," said Jesse Hernandez.

If an occupant, or an owner breaks the two adults to a bedroom rule, they could be fined 500 dollars or jailed for 6 months.

No wonder we have such a huge national deficit! The ACLU is spending it all on attorney fees and we thought it was the Iraq war, but it turns out that none of the money spent on the Iraq war is counted in the budget. Another example of our congress hard at work passing out money to the ACLU to sue the American citizens and the U.S. government.

Guess it's different in each state but when I rented....they wanted the names of everyone in there. If they can limit renting to people who smoke or not.......I don't see whats so unconstitutional about how many people living in an apartment.