FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2013
CONTACT:
Jennifer Riley-Collins, Executive Director, ACLU-MS, 601-354-3408 or JRiley-Collins@aclu-ms.org
Bear Atwood, Legal Director, ACLU-MS, 601-354-3408 or bearatwood@aclu-ms.org
DIAMONDHEAD, MISS. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi sent an open letter to the Diamondhead Property Owners Association (POA) on Monday on behalf of several residents of the City of Diamondhead who have complained that the POA's rules, regulations, and covenants do not permit them to display political yard signs or engage in door-to-door campaigning. The City of Diamondhead is in the midst of its first municipal elections since incorporation in 2012.
In the open letter, the ACLU called on the POA to assure residents that it would refrain from enforcing its covenants, rules, and regulations that impermissibly violate its members' First Amendment rights. Bear Atwood, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi, notes that the City and the POA are so intertwined that the POA has become astate actorsubject to the demands of the Constitution. "The POA claims the authority to censor any speech that it deems inappropriate in nearly all residential areas of the City,” said Atwood. “As a result, neither residents of Diamondhead nor candidates for political office enjoy the same rights to free speech as their counterparts in other municipalities."
"The U.S. Supreme Court has made it very clear that political speech enjoys special constitutional protection because it is crucial to maintaining a robust democracy and the freedom of expression and thought. We strongly encourage the Diamondhead POA to respect the rights of its members by allowing them to engage in political speech," said Jennifer Riley-Collins, ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director.
Founded in 1969, the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is a non-profit organization that works in the Deep South to defend and advance Constitutional rights for all Mississippians. Download the letter
