A federal judge ruled that police officers in Ferguson, Missouri can no longer prohibit protesters from standing still on public sidewalks during a demonstration, reports CNN.

The death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson on Aug. 9, ignited a string of protests in the St. Louis suburb. However, on Aug. 18, police in Ferguson began enforcing a practice dubbed the "keep walking" rule, which restricted protesters from standing still at any time. Protesters were also told that they could be arrested if they walked too slowly.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry issued a preliminary injunction forbidding St. Louis County Police and Missouri State Highway Patrol officers from implementing the "practice of requiring peaceful demonstrators and others to walk, rather than stand still, violates the Constitution," reports the Huffington Post.

After hearing the case, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the judge concluded that evidence shows that police "told many people who were either peacefully assembling or simply standing on their own that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving."

"Some law enforcement officers told people that they could stand still for no more than five seconds. Others gave instructions that people were walking too slowly, or that they could not walk back and forth in a small area. Some law enforcement officers did not make people keep moving, others did. Some officers applied the strategy to reporters, others did not. Many officers told people who were standing in small groups on the sidewalks during the daytime hours that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving," wrote Perry.

She added that demonstrators who wished to gather "in the wake of Michael Brown's tragic death have a constitutional right to do so." However, she noted that "they do not have the right to endanger lives of police officers or other citizens."

At the time, Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson defended the practice of restricting crowds from congregating, even on public grounds.

However, during a hearing last month, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said that there was miscommunication over the implementation of the "keep walking" rule because it was not supposed to be enforced during the daytime.