Playing catch on an LA sidewalk is no longer a crime.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 on Wednesday, Aug. 26, to repeal Municipal Code Section 56.16, a law Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said dates to 1936. The ordinance banned ball games and other sports on public streets, sidewalks and in public parks, except in areas specifically designated for those activities.

Violators faced up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Blumenfield, who began pushing for the repeal in August 2025 after his office came across the provision, called it an uncommonly silly law in his motion to the council. He wrote that a parent playing catch with their child on the sidewalk, or kids kicking a soccer ball on a quiet residential street, technically qualified as criminal activity under the code.

At the Aug. 26 meeting, Blumenfield argued the law's original intent may have been to prevent injuries when automobiles first dominated city streets. But he said keeping it on the books sent the wrong message in an era of rising traffic deaths.

"Having this on the books sends the wrong message," Blumenfield said, according to Patch.

He noted that Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed the code section was rarely enforced. Other serious activities covered by the old language, such as firing weapons or shooting arrows, are already prohibited under separate laws, he said.

The repeal effort moved in two stages. The council first voted 14-0 in January to direct the City Attorney's Office to draft the repeal ordinance. The Aug. 26 vote completed the process.

The old code section, titled "Streets-Sidewalks-Playing Ball or Games of Sport," prohibited anyone from playing "ball or any game of sport with a ball or football" or throwing "any stone, pellet, bullet, arrow or any other missile" on any street, sidewalk or public park outside designated areas.

Blumenfield wrote on Facebook after the vote that the repeal removed one more outdated law from the books and gave Angelenos another reason to get outside and play. No mayoral signature deadline or effective date for the repeal has been publicly announced.