Defending community residents’ right to speak on matters of public concern

Central to the public controversy over development in Lakewood Heights is the matter of the Lakewood Heights Elementary School. Built around 1915, and remodeled in 1932, the school  is owned by Atlanta Public Schools (APS), but has been vacant since 2004 and was declared a “surplus” property in 2007.

In January 2022, the school was slated for demolition. But APS abandoned this plan in response to outcry from Atlanta city planners and the Atlanta Urban Design Commission. Later that year, the four neighbors engaged in public comment at public meetings, an online petition drive, and neighborhood canvassing, urging APS to retain the school and to seek community input about its future use or disposition. The neighbors urged that APS rehabilitate the historic school building for use as a public good, such as an early childhood learning center or affordable housing units. This continued to be the neighbors’ position on the school throughout 2023 and up to the present day.

Ali had wanted to purchase the school for commercial development purposes, although at no time since declaring the school surplus in 2007 has APS or the Atlanta Board of Education ever voted to sell the school, or put the property on the market. In 2024, Ali sued the four neighbors alleging defamation, libel, and tortious interference.

The four neighbors moved to strike the lawsuit under Georgia’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) statute, which provides a procedure for early dismissal of a lawsuit that aims to silence or chill speech on matters of public interest or concern.

At a hearing held in Fulton County State Court, the trial-level court found that all of the neighbors’ speech at issue in the lawsuit falls within the scope of the anti-SLAPP statute, and indicated it was granting the motion to strike in part and denying it in part. This means that some claims will be dismissed from the case, while other claims will proceed to the investigative stage of litigation known as discovery. The court has yet to enter a written order memorializing its ruling. Once an order is entered, the anti-SLAPP statute provides all parties the right to immediately appeal the outcome of the motion to the Georgia Court of Appeals.