Court Overturns Attempt to Block Buddhist Center

The State Supreme Judicial Court Friday overturned a Cambridge City Council attempt to block a group of Buddhists from occupying a Sparks St. house and using it as a meditation center.

The order--one of several passed by the council in an attempt to limit institutional expansion in the Sparks St. neighborhood more than a year ago--had been passed without proper authority, City Councilor David Sullivan said yesterday.

Sullivan criticized city officials for appealing the case beyond the Superior Court level, which also ruled against the city in the case.

"It was a clear loser and a waste of money," Sullivan said, adding that he feared it might make the Supreme Judicial Court think the city "doesn't know what it's doing" in future cases.

City Manager James L. Sullivan said yesterday he did not know the case had been appealed.