CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a permanent injunction that bars animal rights activists from harassing or interfering with UCLA scientists who use animals in their research.

The action by Judge Terry B. Friedman in Santa Monica replaces a previous preliminary injunction and forbids several organizations, five individuals and anyone working with them from demonstrating near UCLA researchers’ homes. It also prohibits the posting of personal information about the university’s employees on animal rights websites.

In March, two of the activists named in Wednesday’s injunction were indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury and charged with threatening and harassing UCLA scientists.

However, the two were not charged with a series of separate incidents involving arsons and vandalism against researchers and their families; those cases remain unsolved, officials said.

-- Larry Gordon