Judge Stops Ferguson Police’s ‘Five Second Rule’
Law enforcement officials can no longer force peaceful protesters in Ferguson to keep moving on sidewalks when they are breaking no law. Federal Judge Catherine Perry granted a preliminary injunction this afternoon in the lawsuit Mustafa Abdullah v. Saint Louis County et al., regarding the “five-second rule.”
In August, law enforcement officers began enforcing a new rule in the area where demonstrators had gathered in Ferguson after the shooting death of Michael Brown. The ACLU of Missouri called it the “five-second rule” because protesters were told they could not remain still for more than five seconds, but law enforcement invoked the rule for many things including standing still for more than five seconds, just standing still, and walking back and forth over hundreds of yards in the protest area. The rule has no statutory or regulatory reference number and has not been released to the public in print.