Judge tosses unicyclist's lawsuit

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NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- A New York judge tossed a unicyclist's lawsuit claiming his rights were violated when he was twice ticketed for riding on the sidewalk.

Federal Judge Brian Cogan said Kyle Peterson was correct in pointing out the city's laws against riding two and three wheeled bicycles on sidewalks does not apply to unicycles, but said he does not see the 2007 and 2011 citations as a violation of Peterson's constitutional rights, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

"I expressed some skepticism that a statute originally enacted to protect African-Americans from the most heinous deprivations of life and liberty in the Reconstruction era had devolved into permitting circus performers to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.