Federal judge rules St. Louis ordinance used to arrest protesters unconstitutional

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Women's March on St. Louis

Thousands of people packed the streets of St. Louis for the Women's March on St. Louis on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

Women's March on St. Louis

"I am a quentessial feminist," said Treasure Shields Redmond of St. Louis (center) who leads a chant during the Women's March on St. Louis on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. Marchers carried signs with messages such as "Women's Rights Are Human Rights," "Not My President" and "When They Go Low, We Go High" protesting for equal rights, equal pay, unity, and reproductive rights to name a few. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com

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Laurie Skrivan

U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey issued an opinion Thursday in favor of a St. Louis County woman, Jessica Langford, who sued the city in 2017, saying St. Louis police violated her free speech rights during the Women's March in St. Louis by ordering her to move from the street to the sidewalk. Langford was arrested and charged under a city ordinance that forbids anyone from blocking pedestrian or vehicle traffic or failing to disperse when instructed by a law enforcement officer.

Autrey said the ordinance was unconstitutional in part by allowing "standardless discretionary power to the police at the scene of any protest."

Langford was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri in the suit.

The Jan. 21, 2017, Women's March drew more than 10,000 people downtown in coordination with similar rallies across the country and served as a protest of President Donald Trump the day after his inauguration. Langford was arrested while walking in the street near Market and 16th streets, an area that had been closed to traffic during the march. There were no cars attempting to pass, but officers were attempting to re-open the lanes, Autrey said in his opinion.

Autrey ruled Thursday that the ordinance banning interfering with traffic was "unconstitutional on its face" and is void for its vagueness. The law, enacted in 2012 after a similar city ordinance was struck down by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, makes the offense a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 to $500 and up to 90 days in jail.

Autrey wrote that the law authorizes any police officer to end any type of speech on a street or sidewalk "at any time for any reason, whether he dislikes a speaker's message or simply wants her to hurry up."

The opinion argued that the broadness of the ordinance means it is undoubtedly violated by everyday activities, and could apply to schoolchildren blocking a sidewalk, two neighbors who stand and converse in a residential street or a neighborhood block party.

"The ordinance applies virtually everywhere a pedestrian might be present in public in the city," the opinion states.

City staff argued that police broadly allow and accommodate protests, but enforce the ordinance when violence or other circumstances warrant a directive to disperse. The judge argued he cannot uphold an ordinance he finds unconstitutional because the city promised to use it responsibly.

City spokesman Jacob Long said the city is aware of the decision and is reviewing it.

The city filed a notice of appeal in the case Friday.

Meanwhile, St. Louis police will not be able to enforce the ordinance and several pending cases have been postponed, said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU Missouri.

During the protest, police used a "kettling" tactic in which they surrounded an area, blocked exits and arrested protesters, residents, an undercover police officer, journalists and others en masse. The arrests prompted national media coverage and a flurry of lawsuits, including one filed by former Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk, who was arrested while covering the protest.

It was unclear how the decision would affect the lawsuits against the city connected to the arrests, Rothert said. The ACLU also has filed a federal suit connected to the arrests.

"This was a law that put a real chill on people's willingness to protest in the city of St. Louis," Rothert said. "The standard has been if the police choose to arrest you, they will. So I think this is a message to the city and the Board of Aldermen that it needs to change."

Besides protests, the ordinance also has been used to disperse panhandlers and the homeless, Rothert said.

A trial is set for fall 2020 to determine any damages Langford, the woman arrested during the 2017 Women's March, will be awarded.

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Public-safety

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Tony Rothert

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Donald Trump

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Adam Duke

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Women's March On St. Louis

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American Civil Liberties Union Of Missouri

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St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

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Scott Boyher

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Jessica Langford

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