KKK group aims to adopt highway for litter control

ATLANTA (AP) - A Ku Klux Klan group is attempting to join Georgia's 'Adopt-A-Highway' program for litter removal, creating a quandary for state officials...

Melissa Noel

Jun 11, 2012

ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A Ku Klux Klan group is attempting to join Georgia’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program for litter removal, creating a quandary for state officials.

The International Keystone Knights of the KKK applied last month to adopt a one-mile stretch of Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains. The Georgia Department of Transportation is meeting with lawyers from the state Attorney General’s Office on Monday to decide how to proceed.

April Chambers says she applied to participate in the program to keep the scenic highway beautiful, not for publicity.

The program features road signs for groups who volunteer to help beautify state highways. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 rejected Missouri’s attempt to thwart a similar effort in that state, maintaining membership in the program cannot be denied because of a group’s political beliefs.

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