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The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on January 10, 2005 a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan can take part in Missouri's 'Adopt-A-Highway' program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group. Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights. A sign announcing the Klan has adopted a one-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in south St. Louis County is erected in this December 1999 file photo.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/court_klan_dc
Supreme Court Sides with Klan in Adopted Highway Program
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Monday a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group can take part in Missouri's "Adopt-A-Highway" program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group.
Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights by rejecting its request to adopt a portion of a highway.
Missouri cited the Klan's history of violence and said the group's application showed it "denies membership on the basis of race, color or national origin."
The original Klan was founded after the Civil War in 1865 by former Confederate soldiers to oppose federal reconstruction efforts. Later versions of the Klan violently opposed the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.
In Mississippi last week, suspected local Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was charged with the 1964 murders of three civil-rights workers, one of the most notorious civil rights-era crimes in the United States. He pleaded not guilty.
Under the highway cleanup program, volunteers agree to collect litter at least twice every six months and put it in bags that state employees pick up. The state puts up signs acknowledging the help at both ends of the section of the highway the group has adopted.
Missouri appealed to the Supreme Court. It said it wanted "to avoid giving motorists the mistaken impression that the state has anything good to say about a horrific, racist group."
State officials warned of problems if the Klan succeeds in forcing the state to allow them into the program.
"Given the KKK's reputation as a hate group, it is reasonable to anticipate that taunts, jeers, insults or objects would be hurled at KKK members picking up trash near the road," they said.
The officials said some people might intentionally dump trash along the road to create more work for Klan members. "The Klan's involvement could lead to more trash along the highway, completely defeating the purpose of the program."
Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont all supported the appeal.
The high court's rejection of Missouri's appeal marked the second time it had considered the issue. It denied a similar appeal by the state in 2001.
The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on January 10, 2005 a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan can take part in Missouri's 'Adopt-A-Highway' program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group. Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights. A sign announcing the Klan has adopted a one-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in south St. Louis County is erected in this December 1999 file photo.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/court_klan_dc
Supreme Court Sides with Klan in Adopted Highway Program
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Monday a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group can take part in Missouri's "Adopt-A-Highway" program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group.
Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights by rejecting its request to adopt a portion of a highway.
Missouri cited the Klan's history of violence and said the group's application showed it "denies membership on the basis of race, color or national origin."
The original Klan was founded after the Civil War in 1865 by former Confederate soldiers to oppose federal reconstruction efforts. Later versions of the Klan violently opposed the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.
In Mississippi last week, suspected local Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was charged with the 1964 murders of three civil-rights workers, one of the most notorious civil rights-era crimes in the United States. He pleaded not guilty.
Under the highway cleanup program, volunteers agree to collect litter at least twice every six months and put it in bags that state employees pick up. The state puts up signs acknowledging the help at both ends of the section of the highway the group has adopted.
Missouri appealed to the Supreme Court. It said it wanted "to avoid giving motorists the mistaken impression that the state has anything good to say about a horrific, racist group."
State officials warned of problems if the Klan succeeds in forcing the state to allow them into the program.
"Given the KKK's reputation as a hate group, it is reasonable to anticipate that taunts, jeers, insults or objects would be hurled at KKK members picking up trash near the road," they said.
The officials said some people might intentionally dump trash along the road to create more work for Klan members. "The Klan's involvement could lead to more trash along the highway, completely defeating the purpose of the program."
Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont all supported the appeal.
The high court's rejection of Missouri's appeal marked the second time it had considered the issue. It denied a similar appeal by the state in 2001.
