Sleeping on sidewalks in San Diego is OK

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- It's now legal to sleep on the street in San Diego.

Under a settlement with homeless advocates, San Diego will stop handing out "sleeping tickets" to people asleep at night on city property, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Under the settlement, which took effect immediately, people are permitted to sleep on city property from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The Union-Tribune said the city was more or less forced into a settlement when a federal court ruled that a Los Angeles ordinance prohibiting sleeping on the sidewalk was illegal because the city didn't have enough shelter beds.

Homeless advocate Larry Milligan has fought the illegal lodging law for years. In 2004, he went on a 19-day fast in an effort to stop the city from handing out sleeping tickets, the Union-Tribune reported.

"It was worth every second (of protest) because these guys can now sleep in peace," Milligan told the Union-Tribune.