District Court Refuses To Hear Baird Case

A Roxbury District Court judge refused jurisdiction yesterday in the case of William Baird, controversial birth control advocate.

Judge Charles I. Taylor sent the case to the next higher court -- Suffolk Superior -- where, he said, Baird could begin to test the constitutionality of Massachusetts' birth control laws. The case will be heard June 5, Baird was arrested at Boston University last month after he handed out birth control devices to students. He also violated Massachusetts law here by explicitly describing birth control methods in a speech at Lowell Lecture Hall, although he was not arrested at that time.