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Court strikes down law passed after DOJ report on Ferguson

Missouri-Attorney-General logoJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court has struck down parts of a law meant to address concerns raised after the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

A Cole County judge ruled Monday it is unconstitutional to limit St. Louis-area municipalities to less traffic ticket and court fine revenues than cities elsewhere in the state.

The judge also struck down requirements for those cities’ police departments, including written use-of-force policies and procedures for reporting police stops. The ruling says those mandates are unconstitutional because the state doesn’t provide a funding source.

Local governments throughout the St. Louis region came under scrutiny following a Justice Department report citing Ferguson’s profit-driven municipal court system. Ferguson was not one of the twelve municipalities that sued to stop the law.

The Missouri attorney general’s office says it is reviewing the ruling.

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