JUDGE BLOCKS PLEA AGREEMENT BANNING PACIFIERS, GLOW STICKS AT RAVE DANCE
PARTIES

New Orleans - A federal judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors cannot force the
organizers of an upcoming rave dance party to ban pacifiers, glow sticks and other paraphernalia used to enhance the effects of the drug Ecstasy.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous's ruling blocks part of a plea
bargain between prosecutors and a company that puts on raves at the State
Palace Theater.

Prosecutors had indicted the company under federal laws aimed at shutting
down crack cocaine houses. They say raves are often hotbeds of drug abuse,
particularly involving Ecstasy.

Porteous blocked enforcement of the ban pending additional court
proceedings. The rave company still has the option of banning the items on
its own. Its next rave is planned for Friday night.

The plea bargain also contained a dlrs 100,000 fine and five years'
probation for the company, Barbecue of New Orleans Inc. Those provisions
were not challenged.

The judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American
Civil Liberties Union on behalf of rave participants.