Judge Restricts Police Use of Tear Gas in Ferguson

Steven D. Schwinn, John Marshall Law School

U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson today ordered police to warn crowds before the police use tear gas and to provide "reasonable" time for people to disperse, according to the St. Louis Post-Dipatch. The temporary restraining order comes in a case filed Monday that alleged that police intimidated demonstrators, assaulted them with tear gas and pepper spray, arbitrarily labeled peaceful protestors as unlawful assemblies, and refused to wear name tags--all of which had a chilling effect on the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights.

Judge Jackson reportedly expressed concern that police failed to distinguish between peaceful protestors and criminals.

We previously posted on a federal court temporary injunction in another against the police move-along rule in Ferguson.