Georgia officials: KKK using adopt-a-highway program to advance ‘Klan Country’

The Ku Klux Klan’s attempt to “adopt” a stretch of highway in north Georgia is headed to the state’s Supreme Court. And the hate group’s case will be defended by a surprising ally: One of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations.

The Georgia Court of Appeals this week transferred the prickly question of whether the KKK chapter can get state recognition for cleaning a one-mile span of Route 515 near the North Carolina state line to the Georgia Supreme Court.

“Accessing the Georgia courts to defend ones constitutional rights is fundamental to protect those very rights. But the state of Georgia believes Georgians only have the right to exercise defense of their most fundamental rights, only if the state says so,” she said in a statement Saturday. “It’s that kind of unchecked power that erodes individual liberty guaranteed to each Georgian by the U.S. and Georgia state Constitution.”

Georgia cites public safety concerns and said the program is aimed at “civic-minded organizations” – not hate groups. But the state is reminded of an irksome precedent: Missouri blocked a similar request from the Klan in 1997, but lost their fight after a lengthy legal battle on free speech grounds.

(Missouri lawmakers tried to get the last laugh. They renamed that stretch of pavement after a rabbi who fled Nazi Germany and became a prominent civil rights advocate in the U.S.)

Georgia’s image, of course, is also on the minds of state attorneys. There’s increased scrutiny of remnants of the Confederacy after the shooting deaths of nine black worshippers by a gunman suspected of wanting to incite a race war.

“Erecting an [Adopt-A-Highway] Program sign with the KKK’s name on it would have the effect of erecting a sign announcing that ‘the State of Georgia has declared this area Klan Country,’” the state’s legal brief read. “Such a statement is absurd and would date this state back decades.”

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/1...rt-of-state-klan-country-by-adopting-highway/

 

[Dr. Meme]

Pretty sure georgia is klan kountry tho

 

[Ravana]

People are going to littering the fuck out of that piece of highway

 

[Hyperion]

As if a group of people so lazy that they advocate for the return of slavery will actually pick up any litter.

 

[Wildchild]

I heard that when the KKK won the case in Missouri allowing them to adopt a highway, then the state changed the name of the highway to"Rosa Parks Highway" which is actually a clever idea.

 

[Mrs Paul]

I heard that when the KKK won the case in Missouri allowing them to adopt a highway, then the state changed the name of the highway to"Rosa Parks Highway" which is actually a clever idea.

Yep, I remember that too.

 

[Marvin]

The Ku Klux Klan’s attempt to “adopt” a stretch of highway in north Georgia is headed to the state’s Supreme Court. And the hate group’s case will be defended by a surprising ally: One of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations.

I'm always slightly annoyed when people get surprised that the ACLU is defending free speech.

People have this idea that the ACLU is some sort of SJW organization, which is silly to anyone who is familiar with their work. The US has some of the strongest free speech protections in the world and we manage to keep it that way because of the ACLU (and similar groups).

Everyone deserves freedom of speech, not just those you agree with. No one knows that better than the ACLU.

Heh, like damn, they've defended NAMBLA before.

 

[AnOminous]

I'm always slightly annoyed when people get surprised that the ACLU is defending free speech.

People have this idea that the ACLU is some sort of SJW organization, which is silly to anyone who is familiar with their work. The US has some of the strongest free speech protections in the world and we manage to keep it that way because of the ACLU (and similar groups).

No shit. Don't they remember the Nazis in Skokie? Also litigated by the ACLU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie

 

[Doc Cassidy]

I'm always slightly annoyed when people get surprised that the ACLU is defending free speech.

People have this idea that the ACLU is some sort of SJW organization, which is silly to anyone who is familiar with their work. The US has some of the strongest free speech protections in the world and we manage to keep it that way because of the ACLU (and similar groups).

Everyone deserves freedom of speech, not just those you agree with. No one knows that better than the ACLU.

Heh, like damn, they've defended NAMBLA before.

The ACLU gets a rep for being really left wing because of their religion oriented cases. They have a very "freedom from religion" take on the first amendment and have been known to take on some bizarrely pointless cases.

 

[PeteyCoffee]

Good for them. It's always nice to participate in your community.

 

[Holdek]

I'm always slightly annoyed when people get surprised that the ACLU is defending free speech.

People have this idea that the ACLU is some sort of SJW organization, which is silly to anyone who is familiar with their work. The US has some of the strongest free speech protections in the world and we manage to keep it that way because of the ACLU (and similar groups).

Everyone deserves freedom of speech, not just those you agree with. No one knows that better than the ACLU.

Heh, like damn, they've defended NAMBLA before.

I wouldn't get too upset with a normal citizen not really all that aware of the ACLU and what it does. But what's annoying to me is that what you quoted was written by a professional journalist and published by a real newspaper.

 

[Null]

The KKK is often involved in Neighborhood Watch programs. This shit works better than an ADT sign and a scarecoon.

 

[Wildchild]

I remember a few years ago then the KKK received a permit to protest in Madison, being a liberal city then the protest drew a lot of controversy.

I remember there was talk about people holding a large counter-protest in response to the KKK's protest, but eventually it was decided that holding a counter protest would just give them unnecessary attention and people decided not to avoid giving them any attention, negative or positive.

I don't know what came about the protest, but from what I heard, the KKK protest consisted of only about 3 people, and was pretty uneventful, because people just decided to not give them any attention or feed their egos.

I'm not sure, but I think the news here may have reported it before the protest was held, but decided not to report the protest after the fact to avoid giving them any attention, positive or negative.

Edit: The thread can be moved back to News and Events now.