Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

11th Circuit Court Issues Stay in Favor of Atlanta in "Cop City" Referendum Case
Dyana Bagby
06 Sep 2023
11th Circuit Court Issues Stay in Favor of Atlanta in "Cop City" Referendum Case
Cop City petition canvassing (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

The petition process to put Cop City on the ballot in Atlanta continues, despite Atlanta public officials' insistence on building a so-called public safety training center that their constituents don't want.

Originally published in RoughDraft Atlanta.

An appeals court sided with the City of Atlanta in an ongoing legal battle with a coalition of activists seeking to put its controversial public safety training center they call “Cop City” on the ballot.

A three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 1 issued a stay on a federal district court’s preliminary injunction that allowed people who lived outside the city limits collect signatures as part of a “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum petition drive. The lower court’s ruling also extended the time the coalition could collect signatures from Aug. 14 until Sept. 25.

The coalition said in a statement emailed to reporters just after 5 p.m. that the ruling does not invalidate the petition for a referendum on the fate of the planned $90 million training center. The coalition said it remains unclear what the deadline is to turn in the petition signatures.

“We are disappointed that the 11th Circuit has stayed the injunction in this case, particularly given the confusion this ruling creates and lack of clarity provided by the Court,” said Mary Hooks, tactical lead for the Cop City Vote Coalition, in a written statement.

“To be clear: this does not mean the petition itself has been invalidated or disqualified, only that the Northern District’s injunction has been stayed pending a full decision. To say otherwise is simply a lie,” Hooks said.

“We remain fully committed to putting Cop City on the ballot to let the people’s voices be heard, and are assessing what this means for our ongoing signature collection and canvass efforts,” Hooks said.

“In this heightened time of attacks on democratic processes, this ruling leaves the order up for interpretation and now Atlantans will pay the price in confusion, anger, and disillusionment,” Hooks added.

The coalition in a statement also accused the city of fighting “the people’s right to democracy, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in this case and in their push to halt any vote on Cop City.”

“Atlanta City Council — simply place Cop City on the ballot and let the people vote,” the coalition said. “We’re ready to accept the outcome of free and fair election. Can the City say the same?”

Shortly after 5 p.m. on Sept. 1, the city emailed reporters a memo from the Office of the Municipal Clerk providing “an update to the public on the process the City of Atlanta will use to verify the petitions advocating for a referendum on repealing the 2021 ordinance authorizing a lease for the land with the Atlanta Police Foundation for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.”

The memo further said no petitions have been submitted to the Municipal Clerk as of September 1.

Dyana Bagby is a staff writer for Reporter Newspapers and Atlanta Intown.

Atlanta
Cop City
Stop Cop City

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

BAP Atlanta Says Free Them All!
Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta City-Wide Alliance
BAP Atlanta Says Free Them All!
20 September 2023
The state of Georgia has doubled down on criminalizing protest against the Cop City militarized policing project.
A Justice System That Is Not Fair and Just For Everyone Is Not Fair and Just For Anyone
Jacqueline Luqman
A Justice System That Is Not Fair and Just For Everyone Is Not Fair and Just For Anyone
13 September 2023
A Black Proud Boy gets the Black people treatment in court, Stop Cop City activists are punished for supporting the Atlanta Black community, an
How the Black Misleadership Class Provides Cover to Cop City
Eva Dickerson
How the Black Misleadership Class Provides Cover to Cop City
13 September 2023
The Cop City project is just the latest iteration of Black politicians covering up for the white power structure in Atlanta.
Georgia Attorney General Brings RICO Indictments Against 61 Activists
Atlanta Community Press Collective
Georgia Attorney General Brings RICO Indictments Against 61 Activists
06 September 2023
The state of Georgia is using the RICO organized crime statute to crush Stop Cop City protests.
Trump’s Prosector Fani Willis Sent Black Educators to Jail
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Atlanta Prosector Fani Willis Sent Black Educators to Jail
23 August 2023
Atlanta is no mecca for Black people. It is a political plantation where the white overseers rule.
Atlanta’s Appeal of ‘Stop Cop City’ Referendum Denied as Petition Nears 80,000 Signatures
Dyana Bagby
Atlanta’s Appeal of ‘Stop Cop City’ Referendum Denied as Petition Nears 80,000 Signatures
16 August 2023
The grassroots movement to put a Cop City referendum on the ballot came closer to becoming a reality when a federal judge denied the city of At
State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
07 June 2023
Cop City is an effort to ensure that state violence will bring the most draconian methods to bear against Black people.
Abolish the GILEE Program and Stop Cop City: A Statement From the Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta Citywide Alliance
Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta City-Wide Alliance
Abolish the GILEE Program and Stop Cop City: A Statement From the Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta Citywide Alliance
24 May 2023
The purpose of U.S.
This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City
Micah Herskind
This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City
10 May 2023
Cop City is the culmination of years of "Atlanta Way" neo-liberalism intended to advantage corporate interests and affluent white people.
The State Repression of U.S. Settler Colonialism in The South: BAP ATLANTA STATEMENT
Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta City-Wide Alliance
The State Repression of U.S. Settler Colonialism in The South: BAP ATLANTA STATEMENT
25 January 2023
The plan for an Atlanta police training facility known as "Cop City" is the latest phase of state repression in that region. 

More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio September 22, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 22, 2023
    22 Sep 2023
    U.S. hostility towards China, the Beloved Community and the effort to end violence, and partisan gerrymandering and its impact on voting rights.
  • U.S. Hostility to China Strengthens Multipolarity
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Hostility to China Strengthens Multipolarity
    22 Sep 2023
    Danny Haiphong is a long time Black Agenda Report contributing editor. He is now the host of his own Youtube channel.
  • Ending Violence with the Beloved Community in Chicago
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ending Violence with the Beloved Community in Chicago
    22 Sep 2023
    Orion Meadows is a non-violence trainer with Institute for Nonviolence Chicago.
  • Partisan Gerrymandering and Voting Rights
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Partisan Gerrymandering and Voting Rights
    22 Sep 2023
    Michael Li is Senior Counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
  • Why Barack Obama Can't Shut Up
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Why Barack Obama Can't Shut Up
    20 Sep 2023
    Barack Obama devastated millions of people all over the world and speaks of his actions as if they were committed by someone else. It is a masterful performance by a man committed to deception.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us