Tuesday 7 October 2014

Ferguson Police's '5 Second Rule' Is Unconstitutional, Court Finds

Ferguson's protesters no longer have to keep moving if told to do so by police.
A federal judge decided on Monday that this so-called "five-second rule" imposed by police on Ferguson's protesters is unconstitutional.
The judge, Catherine D. Perry of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, wrote in granting a preliminary injunction that "the practice of requiring peaceful demonstrators and others to walk, rather than stand still, violated the Constitution."
The rule refers to a tactic adopted August 18th by St. Louis area law enforcement, when officers at a roll call were instructed to tell protesters they had to keep moving, or face arrest. The tactic was used by top officials in the Highway Patrol, St. Louis County Police, and St. Louis City Police in the days and weeks that followed to disperse protesters who had gathered to protest thefatal shooting of Michael Brown.
Many of those encounters were captured on video and shared on Twitter. (Hover over each Vine video below and click the speaker icon in the corner of the frame to hear audio.)
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It was named the "five-second rule" by the ACLU, because protesters were told they had five seconds to move along — or else.
Judge Perry took pains to point out the ruling wasn't intended to restrict law enforcement's ability to break up a rowdy protest. Rather, she writes, the injunction is meant to prevent enforcement of an "ad hoc rule" made up by Ferguson's police during the protests.
"Law enforcement must be able to use the full range of lawful means to control crowds and protest people and property from acts of violence and vandalism, including ordering a crowd to move or disperse if law enforcement officers believe the crowd is assembled for the purpose of violence or rioting. Nor does this order prevent authorities from restricting protesting in certain areas or making other reasonable restrictions on the protests' time, place and manner. This injunction prevents only the enforcement of an ad hoc rule developed for the Ferguson protests that directed police officers, if they felt like it, to order peaceful, law-abiding protesters to keep moving rather than standing still."
The decision is binding effective immediately.
While it isn't clear how many protesters were arrested over the ad-hoc rule, Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU's Missouri division, tells Mashable it directly affects hundreds of people who "gave up the right to protest by leaving the scene, or kept moving to obey the rule."
"We're thrilled with the court's decision," Rothert said in a phone interview withMashable shortly after the ruling was issued.
"When we're talking to protesters we always suggest they be polite and do what the police say — even if you think they are violating the constitution — and let us go to court and press the constitutional problem for you rather than you get arrested," he said.
But that advice only works if the courts actually step in and enforce the constitution.
"And that's what the court did here," said Rothert. "So we're very pleased with that. 
We think this will help bring a lot of peace and calm to the protests in Ferguson.
We think this will help bring a lot of peace and calm to the protests in Ferguson."

A spokesperson for the St. Louis County Police said the department supported the judge's decision.
"The police department understands, respects, and will fully comply with Judge Perry's decision," said Sergeant Brian Schellman, Public Information Coordinator at the St. Louis County Police Department. "It will not affect our plans as we were not going to use it going forward."
http://mashable.com/2014/10/06/ferguson-5-second-rule-unconstitutional/

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