Attorneys for Georgia slave descendants urge judge not to throw out their lawsuit over island zoning

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A lawsuit by Black descendants of slaves that challenges zoning changes affecting their island homes is before a Georgia judge, who must decide whether to allow lawyers to amend the civil complaint to avoid having it dismissed. Gullah-Geechee residents of Sapelo Island sat in court Tuesday as an attorney for McIntosh County’s government argued that their lawsuit must be thrown out because of technical errors that clash with a 2020 change to Georgia’s state constitution. The residents’ lawyers want a chance to fix those problems. The lawsuit was filed last year after county commissioners approved zoning changes that residents say will raise property taxes and force them to sell land in their families for generations.