Today, Dekalb County District Attorney Shelby Boston announced that her office is withdrawing from all cases involving protestors who were recently arrested for opposing the Atlanta Training Center widely known as Cop City. These cases now fall under the sole purview of the Georgia Attorney General’s office.
In response to this development, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Associate Director-Counsel Tona Boyd issued the following statement:
“Today’s decision by Dekalb County DA Sherry Boston to withdraw from prosecuting all cases involving protestors is a welcome development. It also deepens our serious concern about whether these arrests have been motivated by something other than an impartial and objective evaluation of the evidence or a just exercise of prosecutorial discretion. We renew our call for a Department of Justice investigation into the conduct of all officials involved in the arrests and apparent targeting of individuals who oppose Cop City, and those who otherwise support protestors exercising their First Amendment Rights.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
