CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Judge Orders City to Permit March

A federal judge has ordered the city of Fortuna to permit a Labor Day march by Redwood Summer activists outside Pacific Lumber Co. mill as part of a logging protest. Environmentalists said the order by U.S. District Judge Stanley Weigel was a slap at city officials, who had hurriedly amended Fortuna’s parade permit ordinance to require permit applications 20 days in advance of an event rather than 14 days. The controversial city ordinance, approved Aug. 20, would have prevented the Sept. 3 mock funeral planned by Redwood Summer activists. Activists planned to lay a wreath at the gates of the timber company to protest the destruction of old-growth forests. Weigel signed a temporary restraining order compelling the city to allow the march as long as the participants are peaceful, do not trespass on private property and do not allow animals in the parade. Weigel’s order stated that the city’s denial of a parade permit was likely to violate the First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly.