The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday in federal court challenging the state’s law against loitering or prowling, which it claims makes “innocent” behaviors like standing, walking, resting or congregating in public illegal “based on the mere hunch of a police officer.”

The ACLU-NH lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Concord, follows a two-year investigation conducted by the organization into how the law is being enforced in the Granite State.

Under New Hampshire’s “Loitering or Prowling” statute RSA 644:6 , “(a) person commits a violation if he knowingly appears at a place, or at a time, under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity.”

Circumstances described in the statute inc

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