Schools
UCLA: Ordinance Banning Protests Near Professors' Homes 'Critical'
A federal judge upheld a city ordinance that prohibits protesters from coming within 100 feet of professors' homes.
UCLA officials today hailed a federal court judge's decision upholding the constitutionality of a city ordinance banning animal rights protesters from getting close to professors' homes.
The Los Angeles ordinance bans political protests from with 100 feet of the homes of targeted individuals. In a statement posted on its website, the research university termed the ordinance "critical to UCLA's efforts to protect its researchers from an organized campaign of harassment by anti-animal research extremists.''
Earlier:
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In a ruling made Thursday, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz rejected a claim by four protesters, three of whom were arrested in 2010 for protesting near the home of a UCLA researcher who has used live animals for medical research. Matz ruled that state courts have already rejected claims that the city ordinance unduly impacts free speech rights.
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"This ruling affirms UCLA's right to protect our researchers by enforcing existing municipal ordinances,'' said Kevin Reed, UCLA's vice chancellor for legal affairs.
