The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday heard arguments in the “Stop Cop City” petition case that seeks to put Atlanta’s public safety training center up for a public vote.
A coalition of activists collected more than 100,000 signatures over the summer in an attempt to force a ballot referendum that could cancel the city’s lease for the training center. The boxes of signatures were submitted to the city on Sept. 11.
The city has refused to verify the signatures because it says a lower court’s ruling allowing those not living in Atlanta to collect signatures as part of the referendum petition drive violates city and state law. The lower court ruling also restarted the 60-day deadline to collect signatures, which the city argues also violates state law.
A coalition of activists and organizers opposed to Atlanta’s $90 million public safety training center launched a “Vote to Stop Cop City” campaign in June. At the time, they were attempting to collect more than 70,000 signatures within a 60-day period, or by Aug. 21.
When U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen ruled in July in favor of the four DeKalb County residents who sued to allow those not living in Atlanta to collect signatures because they alleged the residency requirements violated their First Amendment rights, Cohen also extended the deadline by more than 30 days.
“He gave them not just their cake and they got to eat it too, but a windfall,” Robert Ashe, attorney for the city, told the three-judge panel.
The city is also arguing that the proposed referendum is illegal because it proposes asking voters to decide if the city should break its lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation, the developer of the training center.
Jeff Filipovits, the lawyer for the four DeKalb residents, said Cohen’s entire ruling should stand. He said the city had the opportunity to contest the validity of the referendum in June when officials did agree to issue petition forms.
“But the city issued the forms, which started this 60-day window,” he said.
“The city is putting the cart before the horse when it’s asking the court to address the validity of the referendum,” Filipovits said. “By starting the 60-day collection window, the city opened this form for this core political speech.”
Courtney English, senior policy advisor for Mayor Andre Dickens, said in an interview the mayor wants to know the results of this petition “and will follow the letter of the law in the guidance of the courts provided.”
The mayor and other city and state officials have argued a new public safety training center for police and firefighters is needed to replace rundown facilities. They also argue the new facility is needed to recruit and retain police officers. The Atlanta Police Department, like many departments across the country, saw an exodus of officers following national protests against police brutality in 2020 sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
Opponents of the training center say building the complex would only lead to more police militarization and violence against Black and brown people. They also accuse the city of environmental racism for building the training center in a majority Black neighborhood.