Category Archives: Free Speech

Progressives Delighted with Gov. Deal’s Veto of Troubling “Religious Freedom” Bill

One comment
keisha and deal

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale   (APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal announced on Monday, March 28, 2016, that he will veto HB 757, the so-called “Religious Freedom Bill” passed by the Legislature earlier this year.   http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/757   Many progressive advocates, faith leaders, and elected officials have responded with delight.   “As a Rabbi, I’m relieved and […]

Read more

Bond Granted for Latausha Nedd as New Details Undermine State’s Case

25 comments
latausha

(APN) JONESBORO, Georgia –– A Clayton County magistrate judge has granted bond to Latausha Nedd, the first victory in a case that raises serious concerns about free speech rights and the power of law enforcement and vigilantes to destabilize social movements by targeting activists.   Atlanta Progressive News previously reported that Nedd, a Clayton County resident with a long track […]

Read more

APD Free Speech Violations Go to Court

2 comments
guy fawkes

(APN) ATLANTA — Three lawsuits were filed on Monday, September 21, 2015, for violations of free speech rights of protesters and media by Atlanta police.   Two cases resulted from the November 2014 marches and protests in downtown Atlanta after the police killing verdict in the controversial Ferguson, Missouri, case was announced to the public   As reported earlier by […]

Read more

Atlanta Councilwoman Norwood Seeks New Restrictions on Public Comment

mary norwood 2

(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood (Post 2-at-large) has introduced controversial legislation to limit public comment at all of the Council’s seven bi-weekly Committee Meetings.   Currently, each Committee gets to set its own time limits, if any; some committees have limits currently; some do not.  The matter is under the purview of the respective seven Committee Chairpersons, […]

Read more

“F*ck the Police” Arrest Leads to $100,000 Settlement in Cobb County

11 comments

(APN) ATLANTA — In the spring of 2012, Amy Barnes, a Cobb County resident and activist with Occupy Atlanta, was riding her bicycle when she saw two police officers questioning a Black man outside a convenience store.  As she rode by on her bicycle, she gave them the middle finger salute and shouted “Fuck the police,” and “Police suck.”   […]

Read more

Atlanta Council Sends Private Murals Ordinance Back to Committee

Leave a comment

By A. Scott Walton, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (November 04, 2014) (APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council, in a vote of 14 to 1, sent a controversial private mural ordinance back to the Community Development/Human Resources (CD/HR) Committee, during the Full Council Meeting on yesterday, Monday, November 03, 2014. Cleta Winslow (District 4), who has expressed strong […]

Read more

EDITORIAL: Our Civil Liberties Are in Grave Danger

(APN) ATLANTA — One of the most salient questions of contemporary political science has been how Germany–a democracy with so much promise–devolved so quickly into a fascist totalitarian dictatorship in the years before World War Two. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings this week, and the series of events that culminated in Boston being under martial law, I […]

Read more

Some Atlanta Councilmembers Seek Vote to Silence the Public, Again

(APN) ATLANTA — Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12) and six other Councilmembers have set their sights on new public comment rules that would further limit the time allotted to citizens to speak at Council Committees, and would set other restrictions. Currently, each Committee Chair sets their own rules for public comment at each of the seven Committees of the Atlanta […]

Read more

City of Atlanta Loses Bid for Secret Memo Injunction, Contempt

Leave a comment

  (APN) ATLANTA — In a victory against the City of Atlanta’s ongoing, multifaceted attack upon the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–prevailed in court against the City’s attempt to suppress APN’s publication of the City’s secret memos. APN wrote about four internal City of Atlanta memos prepared […]

Read more

City of Atlanta Attorneys Want Their Memos Back

Leave a comment

(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta Law Department has requested that Atlanta Progressive News return four memoranda to their offices, after APN obtained the controversial memos and published their contents earlier this week. One memo, dated April 04, 2011, authored by Kristen Denius, Assistant City Attorney, and sent to all Council Members and Council staff, admits that Council Members […]

Read more