A Georgia judge has thrown out a lawsuit accusing local officials of race discrimination when they approved zoning changes to one of the South’s last Gullah-Geechee communities of Black slave descendants.
Superior Court Judge Jay Stewart ruled the civil complaint had to be dismissed because of technical errors unrelated to the rights violations it alleged. His order allows the Southern Poverty Law Center to file a new version of the lawsuit on behalf of residents of the tiny island community of Hogg Hummock.
“Under Georgia law, we are permitted to refile within six months, and we plan to file an amended verified complaint,” Miriam Gutman, a lawyer for the residents, said in a statement Wednesday.
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