A New Level of Free Speech Stupidity, Courtesy of the City of Atlanta

So I’m still trying to enjoy some sun and my Mimosas and coffee (or some such mixture of drink), and I get an email with this specimen of stupidity. Seems like dimwits in Atlanta are trying to pass legislation that would make it illegal to exhibit art on private property that’s visible from public space. Yes, you read right.

Here’s the proposed  legislation, courtesy of Creative Loafing Atlanta:

Public art is for the purposes of this article defined as an expression of creative skill or imagination in a visual form, such as painting or sculpture which is intended to beautify or provide aesthetic influences to public areas on private property or areas on private property which are visible from the public right of way or other public spaces. Public art may be physically expressed as the creation of a structure or the depiction of visual expression located on the outside of a building on private property and which is visible from a City park, sidewalk, street or other right-of-way. Certain definitional criteria are included in the definition for the purpose of differentiating the expression from commercial speech that is regulated by the Sign Ordinance and for the purpose of preventing distraction to vehicular and pedestrian traffic and providing certain reasonable safeguards that will protect the quiet enjoyment of adjacent property or property from which such expression is visible.

Have we reached a new level of lunacy? You bet. But thankfully we have – at least for now – a potent free speech pharmaceutical called The First Amendment. Lock and load.

Tags: art, atlanta, censorship, expression, Free Speech, law, legislation, private, public, space