Anaheim Law on Park Use Is Repealed

A seldom-used law to keep convicted drug offenders away from local parks was repealed by the City Council on Tuesday, avoiding a costly civil rights legal battle.

The ordinance, possibly the only one of its kind in the nation, prohibited people convicted of certain drug-related crimes from entering any of the city’s 40 parks for three years after their conviction or release from custody.

The law was used four times since the council adopted it in 1993.

The American Civil Liberties Union successfully challenged the law in federal court last month on behalf of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which had a pro-marijuana rally May 25 in Anaheim’s La Palma Park.

By obtaining a temporary injunction barring enforcement of the law, the ACLU cleared the way for a Modesto man convicted of growing marijuana plants to legally enter the park and speak about the drug’s medicinal uses.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor ruled that the lawsuit presented “important constitutional issues.”

ACLU attorneys characterized the law as well-intentioned but too far-reaching, and contended that it violated individual rights of free assembly, expression and association.

Anaheim City Atty. Jack L. White advised the council to repeal the ordinance rather than fight the matter in a federal court trial scheduled to begin Sept. 22.

White said there appeared to be “a substantial risk” that the city would not prevail in the proceedings.

Repealing the law “will not significantly impede” the city’s efforts to combat drug problems in local parks, White said.