(Via USA Today) – A federal judge ruled Monday that a tactic police used to control protesters in Ferguson, Mo., is unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction halting the practice.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry in St. Louis ordered law enforcement agencies to stop enforcing a requirement that protesters keep moving rather than stand still.
Law enforcement officers, seeking to control angry crowds, had ordered people to walk and not stand still while demonstrating over the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to halt the practice.
Perry wrote in her order that the requirement violates the constitutional rights of protesters. She said she granted a preliminary injunction “because it is likely that these agencies will again apply this unconstitutional policy.”
The judge cautioned, however, that police still can enforce Missouri’s failure-to-disperse law and other laws to control crowds and protect people and property.
This story continues at USA Today.
Read more at https://www.eurweb.com/2014/10/federal-judge-catherine-perrys-welcome-ruling-restricts-ferguson-police-power/#e8SQGkZpYtZDqCoJ.99
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