MLK, III sends message against Georgia SB 469

The following message has been forwarded to civil rights activists around the country.

"Extremist lawmakers in Georgia's legislature are pushing a bill designed to intimidate those who would engage in protest activities, such as picketing or sit-ins. This is an effort to silence protesters who are standing up for economic justice.

"My father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died fighting for economic justice. Before his assassination in 1968, one of the ways he supported striking sanitation workers in Memphis was by joining them on the picket line.

"It's shocking to me that 44 years after my father's death, extremist legislators are still trying to silence peaceful protesters. My father would not back down from opposing this bill, and we cannot either.

"That's why I created a petition to the Georgia House and Senate and Governor Nathan Deal on SignOn.org, which says:

We urge all Georgia lawmakers to oppose SB 469. This bill restricts the free speech rights of Georgians.

It burdens small businesses by forcing them to issue additional notices to their employees, and it puts extra strain on our already-stretched public safety forces. We need lawmakers to focus on real solutions to our jobs crisis, not push bills that take away our basic free speech rights. Again, please vote NO on SB 469."

–Martin Luther King III

The Georgia General Assembly website has the following summary of SB 469 -Labor; provide provisions prohibiting mass picketing shall apply to certain private residences:

"A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 6 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to labor organizations and labor relations, so as to provide that certain provisions prohibiting mass picketing shall apply to certain private residences; to provide for an action to enjoin unlawful mass picketing; to provide for punishment and penalties; to provide for injunctive relief; to provide for public policy concerning refusal or decision to withdraw from a labor union or employee organization; to amend Code Section 16-7-21, relating to criminal trespass, so as to provide for both criminal trespass and criminal conspiracy; to provide for punishment and fines; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."

Cropped/flipped photo: originally posted to Flickr.com, was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 15:36, 22 January 2009 (UTC) by Nesnad (talk). On that date it was licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.