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"I expressed some skepticism that a statute originally enacted to protect African-Americans from the most heinous deprivations of life and liberty in the Reconstruction era had devolved into permitting circus performers to recover money ... for having wrongfully received two minor summonses," Cogan wrote in his Wednesday decision.
Cogan said the officers "mistakenly but reasonably" thought the law was being violated in the two incidents. The citations were both eventually dismissed.