Judge bars 'keep moving' rule in Ferguson

ST. LOUIS -- A federal judge in St. Louis has ordered Ferguson police to stop forcing peaceful protesters to "keep moving" or face arrest.

Police have used what some call the "five-second" rule to enforce curfews during protests over the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, by a white Ferguson officer. The practice prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to sue.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry issued a preliminary injunction Monday halting the tactic, saying it violates protesters' constitutional rights.

But Perry also said police may enforce a Missouri law making it a misdemeanor to refuse an officer's command to leave the scene of an illegal assembly or riot.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol called the ruling consistent with its goals of allowing citizens to speak while preventing violence.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com