February 7, 2019
By Neil Sturdivant | 11Alive | February 6, 2019
ACLU sent a letter to Sheriff Neil Warren Wednesday "warning him for appearing to engage in government censorship."
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is sending a warning to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren.
The group claims he’s blocking people on his government Facebook page.
The ACLU sent the letter Wednesday saying the sheriff was "appearing to engage in government censorship to silence constituents.”
In the letter it says former Cobb County Sergeant James Herndon commented on Sheriff Warren’s Facebook page claiming that food sold at a county fair was from an old prison unit heavily infested with rats.
The letter says his comment was deleted and he was blocked from the page.
“That’s unconstitutional. That’s why the ACLU of Georgia is demanding that he stops censoring people on social media,” said Sean J. Young, Legal Director for the organization.
The ACLU suggests in the letter that Sheriff Warren creates two pages, one for government use and a personal one.
There is no Facebook page for the Cobb County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Neil Warren does have a personal Facebook profile where he posts information about the department. In the profile he identifies himself as the Sheriff and people in the community go there to comment about the department.
The ACLU said it is “happy to work with you [Warren] offline on a social media policy that is consistent with the first amendment.”
11Alive reached out the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office for their response to the claims in the letter. A spokesperson said they never received a letter officially.
“We have not officially received a letter from the ACLU. When we do will correspond back to them,” the spokesperson replied.