Yesterday while driving I turned on NPR and they were conducting an interview with a representative of ACLU regarding their defense of the Ku Klux Klan and their First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia has decided to defend a Chapter of the KKK in its bid to adopt a stretch of Georgia highway.
The application was filed by Harley Hanson, who calls himself the exalted cyclops of the Georgia Realm of the International Keystone Knights of the KKK, and his wife.
In June the officials of the Georgia DOT turned down the KKK's request, saying
"encountering signage and members of the KKK along a roadway would create a definite distraction to motorists."
"In rejecting the Klan, which has a history of violence against blacks and minority groups, the highway cleanup program was open only to 'civic-minded organization in good standing.'"
Debbie Seagraves, executive director for the ACLU of Georgia:
the Klan reached out to the civil liberties group last week after the DOT rejected its application to participate in the statewide highway cleanup program in Union County.
"Yes, we are representing them, but we are still working on the strategy," she tells The Journal-Constitution, describing the case as a First Amendment issue.
When a group is approved for the adoption of a stretch of highway it is provided with a highway sign that honors the volunteers keeping the highways clear of trash. If the KKK were approved, their highway sign would read:
"IKK Realm GA, Ku Klux Klan."
"A likely precedent was established in 2005 when a federal court ruled that Missouri had no right to ban the KKK from the Adopt-a-Highway program based on the Klan's political beliefs.
What lengths would you go to to preserve free speech?
http://www.theblaze.com/...
http://www.npr.org/...
http://content.usatoday.com/...