GEORGIA. - The American Civil Liberties Union announced that it will assist the Ku Klux Klan in its bid to 'adopt a highway' in Georgia.
The International Kings Knights of the KKK applied for a bid to 'adopt a highway,' on May 21, which would have secured them (as it does any organization involved in the project) a board sign on the respective high-way.
Earlier this month, the Georgia Department of Transportation denied them the bid. The transportation department did not mention of the group's well-known controversial reputation as a cause for denial, but instead said that they denied the bid because Harley Hanson, the applicant, was not a resident of the county in which the high-way would be maintained.
The Union County Commissioner Lamar Paris said, "We don't know why they picked Union County... They could have easily chosen the last mile of Fannin County as opposed to the first mile in Union County," as reported by the AJC.
Paris, however alluded to the group's reputation saying, "The Klan's help is definitely not wanted. "We have a great county and a good infrastructure," he said. "We don't need a controversy from a group who is claiming to want to pick up our trash. We are fully capable of picking up our own trash."
The Klan is filing a suit claiming infringement on their First Amendment Rights. The ACLU agrees that the denial of the bid is a case of First Amendment breach and therefore announced to the Atlanta Journal Constitution that it will be taking on the case.
The case can find precedence in various rulings, but particularly the 2005 case where a court ruled that the state of Missouri had no constitutional grounds on banning the KKK. Robert Herman, the lawyer in the Missouri case told the Daily Report, "The decision of the Georgia Department of Transportation is foolish...the state loses (when there's a strong constitutional challenge) ...It's not even close, "as reported by the Daily Report.
However, if Georgia does not play the first amendment card, and instead bases the denial on other grounds, it might have a chance.
