Ku Klux Klan Sues Georgia After Bid to Adopt Road Is Denied
A Ku Klux Klan chapter sued the state of Georgia on Thursday for rejecting the white supremacist group’s application to “adopt” a stretch of highway.
The KKK chapter, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said Georgia’s refusal to let it join an adopt-a-highway program, which typically involves volunteers picking up trash and planting trees along roads, violated its free speech rights.
The state’s reasons for denying the application were “frivolous and pretextual” and were designed to “shift their duty to uphold free speech to a court instead,” the lawsuit filed in Georgia state court said.
“We decided to take this case because it is such a clear violation of the speech rights of the group,” said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. “We can’t let that slide.”
Georgia officials cited public safety concerns when they denied the group’s application to join the program in June.