CINCINNATI WANTS NO-DRUG ZONE REINSTATED

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The city of Cincinnati wants a federal appeals court to
reinstate its drug-exclusion zone in one of the city's most crime-ridden
neighborhoods.

City attorneys on Friday asked the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati to overturn two rulings that threw out the 1996 city ordinance
that banned convicted or accused drug offenders from entering the
Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

Two lower courts threw out the zone for Over-the-Rhine, saying it punishes
people a second time for the same offense.

Those courts also ruled that the zone infringes on the freedom of
association and unfairly limits a person's right to move freely in a public
area.

In a different case last year, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that city law
violates the Ohio Constitution.

That case involved the 1998 arrest of George Burnett on a drug-related charge.