ATLANTA - The Villa Rica City Council has updated its public comment policy to better protect free speech rights after the ACLU of Georgia raised concerns about the previous rules.
“The changes make clear that Villa Rica residents can speak freely about city business during the public comment period of city council meetings, even if that speech is sharply critical,” said Andrés López-Delgado, senior staff attorney, ACLU of Georgia. “We thank the city council for proactively addressing the concerns.”
The council’s previous public comment policy required speakers to publicly state their home addresses, prohibited comments addressed to individual council members rather than to the city council as a whole, and restricted speech that, among other things, was “personal” or “impertinent.” The revised policy does away with these requirements and instead clarifies that only conduct that actually disrupts meetings, like threats of violence or yelling over other speakers, is not allowed.
These changes better safeguard residents’ constitutional rights to free speech and participation in city council meetings.
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