Anaheim Expected to Repeal Park Ban on Drug Offenders

City officials said Friday they expect to repeal a seldom-used law that bars convicted drug dealers from using city parks, instead of waging a costly legal battle which could end in defeat.

On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to revisit the ordinance, which was adopted 1993. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in April, contending the ordinance violates individual rights of free assembly, expression and association.

“There are concerns that the court would not uphold the ordinance and we think the money could be better spent elsewhere,” said Deputy City Atty. Moses Johnson. “We are disappointed at the way it’s turned out, but it’s not worth the fight.”

Said Mayor Tom Daly: “If the court system believes that the ordinance is too aggressive, we are prepared to stick to more traditional tactics against drug dealers.”

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Taylor granted a temporary injunction barring enforcement of the ordinance. He wrote that the ACLU’s lawsuit presented “important constitutional issues” and suspended the law until the full merits of the case could be heard.

ACLU attorney Mark Silverstein said Friday that attorneys for both sides have agreed to submit a letter to Taylor stating that the litigation has been resolved.

The letter will not be sent to the judge until the law is repealed by the council, which could take several weeks, Silverstein said.

“We are pleased that the city is responding in such a reasonable manner,” Silverstein said. “We have always understood that Anaheim, like many cities in Southern California, have problems with illegal drug activity in their parks. But we didn’t feel that this ordinance was an effective or constitutional way of dealing with the problem.”

Legal experts say the Anaheim ordinance could have been a test case because the law may be the only one of its kind in the nation. It prohibits convicted drug offenders from entering any of the city’s 40 parks for three years after their convictions or release from custody.

The law has been used only four times. It applies to anyone convicted of selling drugs, possessing drugs for sale or, if the offense occurred in a park, possessing drugs. Violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor.

“I think that, in general, a clear majority of the people in Anaheim are in favor of keeping drug dealers out of the parks,” Johnson said. “People are excluded from going to the parks because they don’t feel safe. You can’t have a police officer at every park 24 hours a day. I think there has to be creative solutions to this.”