'Flaggers' See Threat to Free Speech; Proposal Would Give Parks Five Days to Approve a Permit to Protest; Confederate Enthusiasts Say Perdue Is Trying to Avoid Their Criticism

Basinger, Brian, The Florida Times Union

Byline: BRIAN BASINGER, The Times-Union

ATLANTA -- Some of Gov. Sonny Perdue's harshest political critics say the free speech rights of all Georgians are in jeopardy because of a proposed policy change now pending before the agency that oversees the state's parks and historic sites.

Under existing rules, members of the public who want to protest or hand out literature at one of the state's 63 official parks or historic sites must first obtain a permit from the Department of Natural Resources.

Officials are currently required to issue or deny the permit "without reasonable delay."

However, Department of Natural Resources board members are considering whether to change the policy's language. New wording would give the divisional director of the parks and historic sites up to five days to review permit applications from groups of 11 or more people who want to engage in "First Amendment activities." Groups of 10 or fewer would get their permit decisions within 48 hours from the individual park's manager.

The proposal would do away with the language requiring a permit ruling "without …

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Publication information: Article title: 'Flaggers' See Threat to Free Speech; Proposal Would Give Parks Five Days to Approve a Permit to Protest; Confederate Enthusiasts Say Perdue Is Trying to Avoid Their Criticism. Contributors: Basinger, Brian - Author. Newspaper title: The Florida Times Union. Publication date: April 10, 2005. Page number: Not available. © 2007 The Florida Times-Union. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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