Georgia Court Hears Arguments Over Ku Klux Klan Adopt-a-Highway Lawsuit

The Ku Klux Klan had its arguments heard in a Georgia court this week after the state refused to allow the White Supremacist group to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program.

A Georgia court heard arguments this week but did not make a decision regarding the 2012 lawsuit brought against the state by the Ku Klux Klan, being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The white supremacist group filed a lawsuit against Georgia in 2012 after the state refused to allow the KKK to adopt a stretch of highway along Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains.

The state's Adopt-a-Highway program involves an organization adopting part of a highway to clean up trash and plant trees. While the state argued that allowing the KKK to adopt part of the highway would imply the local government was endorsing a white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan argued that their right to freedom of speech was being violated.

According to Reuters, attorney for the state Brittany Bolton argued in court that the road signs are "government speech" which is not protected by the First Amendment.

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."

According to the Associated Press, Alan Begner, representing the KKK, told the court that the state is not protected from being challenged on the possible infringement of constitutional rights.

"All citizens must have the right to challenge constitutional violations or we'd have no Constitution at all," he said.