The Georgia First Amendment Foundation (GFAF) will honor the work the University of Georgia’s (UGA) First Amendment Clinic is doing to fight for government transparency and protecting First Amendment freedoms at its annual Weltner Banquet on Oct. 28.
Since launching at the UGA School of Law in 2020, the First Amendment Clinic has secured several wins in the fight for free speech. The clinic achieved the dismissal of a lawsuit against neighborhood activists who spoke out against a local developer, secured a court ruling that set the standard for how local governments regulate speech on social media, and successfully represented a journalist arrested while reporting.
“[UGA’s First Amendment Clinic has] consistently provided strong, thoughtful support for open government,” Richard T. Griffiths, president emeritus of GFAF, told Rough Draft. “…They’re a terrific service to the state of Georgia that we are really proud to honor.”
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The clinic’s students and staff will be recognized as Open Government Heroes during the banquet, which serves as GFAF’s largest fundraiser. Established in 1994, GFAF is a nonpartisan, volunteer-led non-profit working to educate citizens, public officials, journalists, and lawyers on Georgia’s open records, open meetings, and free speech laws.
The foundation will also honor Bill Rankin, a former legal affairs reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, during the banquet with the Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Award. Rankin reported on the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing that began to dismantle the case against Richard Jewell, the trial of the white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, and the racketeering case accusing President Donald Trump of attempting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Both Rankin and the UGA First Amendment Clinic represent the necessary commitment to transparent, free speech that GFAF fights for, Griffiths stated.
“We’re in a time where the First Amendment is very much under challenge and access to government is under challenge, and when that happens, the public loses because they don’t understand what their government is doing and they trust their government less,” Griffiths added. “Fighting for transparency helps build trust in institutions because people can see it, but it also means that those institutions are accountable.”
The 2026 Weltner Banquet will take place at the Emory Conference Center on Oct. 28, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $120 for GFAF members and $140 for non-members.
Read more about the work of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation on the organization’s website.
