The Supreme Court of Georgia has affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s statute criminalizing conduct likely to disrupt the Georgia General Assembly’s official business.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Georgia, then a state senator, and several other Georgia residents filed the lawsuit after authorities arrested them for protesting in the rotunda of the Georgia State Capitol building in November 2018. State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, arrested in March 2021 for knocking on the governor’s office door, also joined the lawsuit.
A Fulton County judge dismissed the suit.
The lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Safety officers involved in the arrests or allegedly responsible for enforcement decisions sought to prevent any enforcement of the statute. The filers alleged that the statute, on its face, violates the Georgia Constitution’s free-speech protections and is unconstitutionally vague.
The appellants also alleged that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to them because they did not intend to disrupt any session of the General Assembly and did not disrupt any session. In addition, Cannon claimed that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to her noncommunicative conduct.
The trial court rejected the appellants’ facial challenges and partly dismissed their complaint for failure to state a claim. It also dismissed Cannon’s as-applied challenge.
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