Pubdate: Thu, 18 Oct 2001
Source: The Herald-Sun (NC)
Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: Andrew Welsh-Huggins (AP)

DRUG-EXCLUSION LAW STUCK DOWN

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday declared 
unconstitutional a Cincinnati law that bans convicted drug offenders from 
certain parts of the city.

The 1996 law created drug-exclusion zones as part of the city's fight 
against drug-related crime.

The court, in a 6-1 ruling, said that the law violates the right to travel 
protected by the U.S. Constitution. The court also said the city cannot 
impose an additional punishment for an offense under state law.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer said governments are entitled to attack the 
problem of drug-infested neighborhoods aggressively. But he added: "When 
legislation addressing the drug problem infringes certain fundamental 
rights, however, more than a compelling interest is needed to survive 
constitutional scrutiny."

"A person subject to the exclusion ordinance may not enter a drug-exclusion 
zone to speak with counsel, to visit family, to attend church, to receive 
emergency medical care, to go to a grocery store, or just stand on a street 
corner and look at a blue sky," Moyer said.

A federal court last year also found the law unconstitutional, and the city 
stopped enforcing it after that.

Robert Johnstone, Cincinnati's deputy city solicitor, said the city has not 
decided on its next step.

The case involved convicted drug offender George Burnett, who was barred 
for a year from a zone in Cincinnati's Over the Rhine neighborhood.

Cincinnati's law was based on one in Portland, Ore. A man banished from 
Portland's drug-free zones filed a federal lawsuit last year challenging 
the law as unconstitutional. The city said it continues to enforce the measure.
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MAP posted-by: Beth