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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Salt Lake City Council passed a protest ban aimed at preventing animal rights groups from protesting at the homes of animal researchers.
Officials from the University of Utah asked the council to consider the ban after several of its faculty have been the targets of loud, intimidating protests in front of their homes.
The council passed the ordinance by a vote of 5-2, despite concerns it might violate free speech rights.
Councilman Eric Jergensen says it's a matter of balancing the right to free speech with the rights of people to feel safe and have privacy in their homes.
According to a memorandum prepared by city staff, other cities have passed similar ordinances that have been upheld as legal.
In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar ordinance in Wisconsin.
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Information from: Deseret Morning News
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
