CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — A group that panhandled to protest anti-panhandling rules in a Rhode Island city has seen some of their citations dismissed, but not for the ordinance they were protesting.

The Providence Journal reports that, on Wednesday, a traffic judge dismissed citations issued against nine people for standing in a freeway in Cranston. A lawyer for the city said similar citations could be refiled.

Lawyers on both sides of the case said it was unclear if the road the protesters were standing on was actually a freeway as defined by state law.

The citations came in March as demonstrators protested a rule that bans people from asking for money while standing in certain places, including near busy roads. They face a hearing next month for allegedly violating that rule.