The constitutionality of a 50 years old federal anti-riot law was confirmed by the U.S. District Court Judge Terry Moorer in Alabama in the face of claims that the law has racist roots and threatens protest activity protected by the First Amendment, Politico writes.
Federal judge’s decision clears the way for prosecutors to continue Tia Pugh, 22, trial next week on a single felony charge that she violated the civil disorder law by smashing a police car window with a bat during a protest in Mobile six days after George Floyd died in the police custody in Minneapolis.
Pugh’s lawyers challenged the law on various legal grounds and the motion to dismiss the case was part of what the government called a coordinated effort to bring down cases across the country against people accused of violence during racial justice protests last year.
Judge Moorer, Trump’s first Black appointee to the federal bench, rejected Pugh’s claims of selective prosecution and racial bias and noted that is being used in dozens of cases related to the Capitol’s unrest in January.
Pugh’s lead attorney, Gordon Armstrong, called the ruling disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. Pugh faces up to five years in prison if convicted although defendants are usually sentenced in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines that call for much shorter sentences for offenders with little or no criminal record.
The case against Pugh, who had already been arrested by Mobile police on charges of inciting a riot and criminal mischief, is the first of a wave of such cases to go to trial after Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr called for a federal crackdown. In her case, the U.S. Attorney in Mobile filed the federal charge just five days after the incident.
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