Appeals court revives lawsuit by Arizona woman barred from sleeping in her car due to OCD

A federal appeals court has allowed a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a woman in Sedona to move forward. The woman sleeps in her car because her severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often makes it impossible for her to enter her own apartment.

In a published ruling issued on November 12, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a lower court judge was wrong to dismiss Sabrina Beram's lawsuit against the City of Sedona under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The decision allows Beram to seek financial compensation and a court order stopping police from enforcing the city's ban on sleeping in vehicles against her when she rests in the parking lot of her apartment complex.According to Ninth Circuit court records, Beram rents an apartment in Sedona, Arizona, and lives with severe, long-term obsessive-compulsive anxiety.