Appeals court rules against Beale sweeps

An appeals court has sided with a federal judge who ruled last year that the city could no longer conduct sweeps to clear people off Beale Street unless public safety requires it.

U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla issued his ruling in June 2015, ostensibly ending a police practice that has existed for years in which officers “sweep” the street to clear people off or push them into clubs, usually in the early morning hours of weekends.

After McCalla’s decision, the city appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The three-member body handed down its ruling Monday upholding McCalla’s decision.

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