a229  1408  20 Dec 88
AM-Parks Ban,0397
Appeals Court Strikes Down Ban on Non-Residents' Park Use
By JUDY DAUBENMIER
Associated Press Writer
    LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A law barring people who don't live in
Dearborn from going to its city parks is unconstitutional, the state
Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
    The 3-0 decision said the ordinance violates constitutional bans on
racial discrimination and unreasonable police searches.
    The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and
the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the ordinance
adopted by Dearborn voters in November 1985.
    ''I am absolutely grateful for this kind of Christmas present from
the courts that will hopefully put an end to one of the most racially
divisive issues in southeastern Michigan,'' said ACLU Executive
Director Howard Simon.
    ''The ball is in the city's court because it could appeal, but it
would be my hope they would put this behind them and realize the
interdependence of southeastern Michigan,'' he said.
    Arthur Johnson, president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, said
he believed the ruling ''will help in getting the government of
Dearborn on a better track in how it relates to citizens of other
communities.''
    Dearborn City Attorney William Hultgren said city officials are
studying the ruling and probably won't decide whether to appeal for a
couple of months.
    Residents of mostly white Dearborn had complained that parks,
swimming pools and baseball diamonds along the city's border with
Detroit were being used by non-residents.
    They approved an ordinance restricting use of parks to Dearborn
residents and requiring park users to produce driver's licenses or
other identification proving their residency if stopped by police.
    Tuesday's decision upheld a Wayne County Circuit Court ruling
overturning the ordinance. Non-residents have been free to use
Dearborn parks since the court fight began.
    The appeals court said banning non-residents violated a provision in
the Michigan Constitution prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
race.
    The court said in order to be discriminatory under that part of the
constitution, an ordinance need only have a negative effect on
members of one race. Whether city officials intended to discriminate
was irrelevant, the court said.
    The provision allowing police to stop park users violated portions
of both the state and U.S. constitutions barring unreasonable search
and seizure because it gave police unfettered discretion, the ruling
said.
    
 
 
AP-NY-12-20-88 1659EST
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