Georgia county seeking to dismiss lawsuit by slave descendants over rezoning of their island homes

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — County commissioners in Georgia are asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit by Black residents descended from slaves who fear new zoning changes will force them to sell their island homes. Attorneys for McIntosh County say the lawsuit should be dismissed because Georgia’s constitution gives the state and local governments broad immunity from litigation. Gullah-Geechee residents of Sapelo Island filed suit in October, a month after McIntosh County commissioners voted to weaken restrictions that for decades protected their tiny enclave of Hogg Hummock. The lawsuit accuses the county of race discrimination and violating landowners due process rights. A judge has set a Feb. 20 hearing.