Can KKK ‘adopt a highway’? Appellate court to take up matter

The Georgia Court of Appeals will hear on Thursday a case deciding if the Ku Klux Klan, commonly referred to as the KKK, can “adopt” a stretch of highway in north Georgia, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta.

“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, ‘” it read.

The Georgia Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case Thursday and will issue a decision in the coming months. “Participation in the program should not detract from its worthwhile goal”, the Georgia Transportation Department said in a statement at the time. The chapter claims the state’s rejection violated the group’s free speech rights.

The initial lawsuit was filed by American Civil Liberties Union Foundation on behalf of the worldwide Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

The state’s Adopt-a-Highway program involves an organization adopting part of a highway to clean up trash and plant trees.

In court documents, Georgia argues that letting the Klan participate would amount to the state’s endorsement of the Klan’s beliefs, since road signs are a “quintessential method used by governments to communicate with the public”. The high court sustained Texas’ refusal to issue a license plate bearing the Confederate battle flag.

But Alan Begner, attorney for the Klan, argued that Georgia’s constitution has stronger free-speech protections than the U.S. Constitution.

Bolton added that motorists would immediately make a connection between the road sign and the government’s sponsorship, telling appellate judges that drivers “would have no doubt about who the speaker is and that is the state”.

“The concern for me is that the moment the court allows the state to draw a line and say “this speech is good, this speech is bad” is a very scary day”, said Maya Dillard Smith, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia.