The State - News from Aug. 17, 1986

A city ordinance barring charitable organizations from selling souvenirs near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco has been voided by a federal judge who said the measure was vague, too broad and threatened First Amendment rights to free speech. “Under the ordinance, there’s no guarantee that if Tom Paine were selling sweat shirts with the text of the U.S. Constitution printed on the back in Fisherman’s Wharf, he wouldn’t be arrested,” said U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer. Merchants, street artists and the Police Department had lobbied in favor of the ordinance, which was challenged by a group of Hare Krishna members and several other nonprofit groups such as Greenpeace, the Lesbian and Gay Freedom Day Parade Committee and the San Francisco Nuclear Group. The judge scheduled a Sept. 26 hearing on the effects of his decision.