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Comment by quadrifoliate | Hacker News Reader

> here's a city that makes a move like this because they are tired of broken down cars in poor neighborhoods and then end up repealing the rule when cops get uppity and apply it to middle/upper class people who are doing vehicle restorations in their driveways.

Basically, they are making up their own laws by trial and error, which just seems bizarre to me.

I am completely ignorant of the law in this regard – how ridiculous can city or county laws get before someone is obliged to step in even if no one in the jurisdiction challenges it in court?

Or is it possible that the county could start fining people for, I don't know, staying up past midnight; and that would be fine so long as no one in the county sues?

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I don't know why you're downvoted. Maybe the answer is obvious to some, but my public school and college degree never really educated me on this. I'm quite interested.

What recourse does one have if your county imposes unreasonable rules? I imagine some of this is political and some of it would be jurisdiction/constitutional?

So maybe you could sue on the basis that a law is unconstitutional or that the county doesn't have the right (where maybe the state does).

And otherwise your only other recourse is to run/campaign/vote in county elections?

Edit... My county claims to be a "Council-Manager form of government."

Guess I've got some reading to do on my county's politics -- though I do plan to move soon.

"What recourse does one have if your county imposes unreasonable rules?"

"Reasonable" is determined by judge and/or jury.

Even with what seems like plain language in preemptive state laws or the constitution, it seems like those don't place many restrictions on what a local government can do, as the protections are quite limited and in some cases have been watered down.

If you want a good example of how this works, look at the firearms preemption situation in PA. There are constant cases and appeals about what laws municipalities can make. The people in power will make whatever rules they want with no repercussions, even when they know they are barred from doing so.

Back to your original question, I think the only real solution is to move to areas where the population has a similar mindset. Those options may be limited though. This is especially true with increasing federal regulation, or when population distributions in a state effectively give cities power over the entire state (see NYC+suburbs and NY in general).

> move to areas where the population has a similar mindset.

> Those options may be limited though.

This ^

I'm looking at small towns in rural areas now. I really just want to raise my own kids (homeschool), do some light farming, and maybe at some point start a small business in something I'm interested in that maybe I can use to help my kids become self sufficient.

The regulations and cost of living in _so_ many places are making this next to impossible. I'm glad I bought a fixer house when I did, or I'd only be able to afford a condo these days. : /

Yep. The answer under democracy is either to "vote harder" or to try to persuade government agents to wield the coercive powers that they have granted to themselves to your advantage.

I wouldn't say that they're all doing it by trial and error. When this was done in my hometown it was explicitly done by a city council targeting a certain set of neighborhoods (that have since been gentrified). They wrote the law with such specific intent that they failed to see how it applied to anyone else.

Yes, cities have can enact pretty much any law they want until it's challenged in court. Just as an FYI, many cities have enacted curfews before, typically, I think for children and teens.

Thanks! I found out today about curfew laws and some of the concerns about them [1] in the US; had never heard of them previously since I came here as an adult.

It seems like an issue affecting a fairly large section of the population (15-17 year olds and their parents) that the Supreme Court has never examined.

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[1] https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1206/curfews

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