The Georgia First Amendment Foundation
Promoting Transparency: Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Founding Director Sally Bethea accepts the Weltner Freedom of Information Award from Philip Weltner. Photo credit: Krys Alex
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation has been fostering transparency and advocating free expression across the state for more than 30 years. At its 2024 fundraising gala, the nonpartisan nonprofit presented its Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Award to longtime environmental activist Sally Bethea, who, as the first Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, has led the effort to clean up the river.
“Without the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and others who are committed to protecting open government and free speech, environmental advocacy in this state would be immensely more difficult than it already is,” Bethea says.
The organization files friend-of-the-court briefs and develops educational resources for citizens, journalists and public officials that promote the Freedom of Information Act, the Open Records Act and the Sunshine Laws, which pertain to openness in government and bureaucracy. For example, the recent Mill Iron Case reaffirmed the right to obtain the public records of government contractors.
“If you look at the long arc of the work we’ve done,” says President Jonathan Peters, “we were more focused on open meetings, as we still are, but we’ve broadened our portfolio to focus on freedom of expression and assembly, particularly on college campuses.”
The foundation also maintains a bill tracker and a watch list to monitor expression-related legislation and keep the public informed.
“We’re constantly on the lookout for new frontiers, which lately have included AI and social media,” he says. “The efforts of some in power, who hold unlawfully held meetings or impose huge ‘processing fees’ [for releasing documents], warrant our ongoing vigilance.” 
