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

11th Circuit Court Issues Stay in Favor of Atlanta in "Cop City" Referendum Case
Dyana Bagby
06 Sep 2023
🖨️ Print Article
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

Aja Arnold
From the Atlanta Race Massacre to Cop City: The AJC Incites Harm
16 July 2025
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution never stopped printing racist lies—it just upgraded its fonts.
Tunde Osazua
Surveilled and Controlled: The High-Tech War on Working Class Black Atlantans
20 November 2024
Under the shield of public safety, Atlanta's police and political leaders have turned it into the most surveilled city in the country, where Bl
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Rise of Militarized Policing in Response to Black Dissent
08 May 2024
The United States continues to grow the police state to serve as a bulwark of counterinsurgency.
Ethiopian migrants
Black Alliance For Peace
From the Rivers to the Seas of the world, the Peoples’ of this Planet Must be Liberated from U.S. and European Domination If We Are to Survive
27 March 2024
The peoples of this world will never see true liberation and peace until we are free of the shackles of U.S.
Fani Willis
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Phony Fani Willis, Misguided Support, and the Atlanta Plantation
21 February 2024
Public reaction to the Fani Willis soap opera is an example of how cynical Black misleadership creates confusion among the masses.
Two demonstrators standing side by side with one holding Palestine flag and other holding DR Congo flag
Black Alliance For Peace
AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #49
20 December 2023
Originally Published in Black Allia
STOP COP CITY
Efia Nwangaza
Smash Kop City Atlanta: A Hub In The National White Supremacist Bulwark for White Minority Rule
01 November 2023
Atlanta's proposed Cop City project is just the latest iteration of militarized policing which enables state repression.
A police tactical vehicle leaves the scene with officers in fatigues hanging on
Black Alliance For Peace
Black Alliance for Peace Baltimore Says No to Cop City
10 October 2023
The phenomenon of militarized policing is not confined to the city of Atlanta.
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

More Stories


  • Mosaic: An Interview with August K. Clayton
    August K. Clayton , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    Mosaic: An Interview with August K. Clayton
    23 Aug 2023
    Mosaic: An Interview with August K. Clayton
  • Sara Flounders , Joe Lombardo
    RESPONSE TO: Lawrence S. Wittner’s “Spinning Illusions: The Anti-American Left and the Ukraine War” – a new McCarthyism
    23 Aug 2023
    Recently articles have appeared on the front page of the New York Times that try to smear Code Pink, The People’s Forum and TriContinental as Chinese agents. The Times article was followed by a…
  • Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
    Gus Griffin
    Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
    23 Aug 2023
    Michael Oher’s story of exploitation is even worse than the white savior narrative presented by Hollywood.
  • Case studies: US military assistance in Africa doesn’t work
    Jim Lobe
    Case studies: US Military Assistance in Africa Doesn’t Work
    23 Aug 2023
    ​​​​​​​Authors of a new report worry that Washington won’t heed their warnings but double down in an era of Great Power Competition.
  • How Washington Shapes ICC To Its Own Aims
    Maureen Clare Murphy
    How Washington Shapes ICC To Its Own Aims
    23 Aug 2023
    The International Criminal Court is itself criminal in its selective prosecutions and obedience to Washington's directives. In turn, the U.S. specifically prohibits aid to the Palestinian Authority…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us