By David Beasley
ATLANTA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - 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.
Road signs are typically installed by U.S. states to
recognize participating organizations, and the Georgia
Department of Transportation told the Klan chapter that erecting
a sign with the Klan's name could lead to potential social
unrest and distraction of drivers.
"A state road sign with 'KKK' on it would betray our values
and would rightly offend the vast majority of Georgians," said
Brian Robinson, spokesman for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
That might not be enough to keep the Klan out of the
program. In 1997, the state of Missouri rejected a similar
request from a Klan chapter on the grounds that the group's
membership rules were racially discriminatory.
A federal appeals court ruled that requiring such a group to
alter its membership requirements to qualify for the
adopt-a-highway program would "censor its message and inhibit
its constitutionally protected conduct."
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Missouri case.
Following the court ruling, the Klan was allowed to adopt a
stretch of Missouri highway and did so for a short period.
Follow us on Twitter @ReutersLegal | Like us on Facebook