Hare Krishnas Again Protest Anaheim Law

A recently rewritten Anaheim city ordinance designed to regulate public solicitations for money is under attack from an old court foe, the Hare Krishna organization.

Two leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness sued the city Wednesday for a court order that would block enforcement of the new ordinance and would declare it unconstitutional, primarily because it acts as a prior restraint.

In a brief hearing, however, Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer refused to restrain the city temporarily from enforcing the ordinance. Instead, he set a Jan. 22 hearing before Judge Judith M. Ryan on a request for a preliminary injunction.

City Official Confident

“We’re confident we will prevail on the merits,” said Assistant City Atty. Robert O. Franks, who drafted the municipal law.

The new ordinance, adopted by the City Council Nov. 20 and effective two weeks ago, was drafted in response to previous litigation that had led to a court order permanently invalidating a prior ordinance.

The suit filed on Wednesday, however, claims that the new municipal law is “burdensome, obnoxious and oppressive” as it is applied to the Krishna ritual of sankirtan, which involves, among other things, distributing or selling religious literature and soliciting donations.

The attack on the new ordinance comes from Alvin Marsden, president of the Laguna Beach temple and also known as Agni Deva dasa, and Jack Carreras, regional sankirtan director who also is known as Janaka Rsi dasa.

Marsden and Carreras claim that the requirement for a solicitation permit, provisions for permit suspension and revocation, and a prohibition on soliciting by certain criminals constitute “impermissible systems of prior restraint” that violate free-expression guarantees in the California and U.S. constitutions.

The Krishna leaders also contend that compliance with several provisions is “impossible” or “dangerous” because the ordinance forces Krishna members to “guess at its requirements.”

The ordinance, for instance, does not even define what constitutes a “member” of an organization seeking a permit, according to Larry J. Roberts of Los Angeles, attorney for the Krishna leaders.

The leaders also contend that the municipal law gives city workers revocation powers that amount to unlawful censorship and requires financial disclosures that infringe on the doctrine of separation of church and state.

Krishna members had battled the city over the old ordinance in an attempt to solicit money at Anaheim Stadium and in the public areas around the city’s convention center.

In October, 1983, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Manuel L. Real ruled that the old ordinance was valid but that the Krishnas could proselytize at the convention center. He also decided that the stadium was not a public forum and that the Krishnas could be barred from soliciting there.

Real, however, indicated in his opinion that he was troubled with some areas of the ordinance. That gave a small Christian sect, the Soldiers of the Cross of Christ Evangelical International Church, and one of its members a chance to challenge the ordinance anew in state courts.

Last Nov. 26, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Polis invalidated the ordinance, finding it vague on its face because of its failure to be specific in a number of areas.