Judge Bernard M. Decker; OKd Neo-Nazi March

Bernard M. Decker, 89, the former U.S. district judge who ruled in 1978 that a group of neo-Nazis had the right to march through Skokie, Ill., a community with a large number of Jews. Decker served on the Illinois and federal bench for 36 years, retiring in 1987. One of his most controversial decisions came when he ruled that a band of self-styled Nazis could march on Adolf Hitler’s birthday in Skokie. Decker declared that three ordinances designed to prevent the march interfered with the Nazis’ rights of free speech and assembly. In 1981, Decker ruled in favor of a Morton Grove ordinance banning the sale and possession of handguns, ending a challenge by the National Rifle Assn. Although he was a Republican, Decker was appointed to the federal bench by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. He served earlier as a Circuit Court judge. On Tuesday in Chicago.