Riverside County supervisors Tuesday fast-tracked and unanimously approved an ordinance that restricts picketing outside homes and a Church of Scientology base near Hemet. Supervisors deemed the restrictions urgent and voted to forgo regular statutory proceedings, which include a second hearing. The ordinance went into effect after its introduction Tuesday despite unresolved questions about exactly how rules will apply to the Scientology base. The new ordinance, backed by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, stipulates that pickets must remain at least 50 ...

Riverside County supervisors are set to vote Tuesday on a revised ordinance to limit picketing at residences and outside the Church of Scientology's base in Gilman Hot Springs. The proposed ordinance, supported by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, would restrict picketing to 50 feet beyond the property line of a targeted residence or to an across-the-street sidewalk. Stone is also urging supervisors to approve an urgency ordinance Tuesday. If at least four supervisors approve that urgency measure, the limits on ...

RIVERSIDE – Concerned that a proposed anti-picketing ordinance might be too restrictive – and that it did not address the issue that inspired it – the Board of Supervisors Tuesday backed away from the measure, but indicated it may be brought back in different form. “I don't agree we should abandon this completely, but I want us as united on this as possible,” said Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, who sponsored the measure. “It's not an attempt to limit the right ...

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday backed off from picketing restrictions supported by the Church of Scientology that supervisors had preliminarily approved last month. Supervisors stopped final approval of the ordinance and voted unanimously to re-examine its prohibition on picketing within 300 feet of a targeted residence. They agreed to have county counsel and staff retool the ordinance in consultation with the county sheriff's office and Samuel Alhadeff, an attorney representing the Church of Scientology. "I think we may be going too far ...

RIVERSIDE – With two colleagues prepared to vote against the measure, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday temporarily withdrew his proposed ban on protests that target and take place in front of homes. Stone said that, in consultation with county lawyers, he will try to tweak the ordinance so it lets protesters picket residences for what he considers legitimate purposes, such as when they are home to sex offenders, without trespassing on the constitutional right to free speech. Legal experts, ...

The Church of Scientology's concerns about protesters outside their Gilman Hot Springs base led Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone to seek and gain approval Tuesday for county restrictions on picketing in residential neighborhoods. Only Supervisor Bob Buster voted against the ordinance, which forbids demonstrators from coming within 300 feet of a home they are targeting in unincorporated Riverside County. Buster said a 300-foot buffer would effectively quash demonstrations outside residences. He said the ordinance threatens free-speech rights. Stone said that protesters ...