Open Records request sent to the Cobb County Sheriff’s office 4:56 AM, Thursday, June 6, 2024. 287(g) - Updated with response(s)

Update, June 13 with response from CCSO. Update: June 27, 2024 with second response.

Updated June 6, 3:00 PM. – I see now that I had a repeat sentence in the body of the ORR. Sorry. It was early and I blame my cat…

dak

Open Records request sent to the Cobb County Sheriff’s office 4:56 AM, Thursday, June 6, 2024.

Subject: 287 (g) and communications with U.S. DHS/ICE.

The below was composed and sent using the open records request contact form presented on the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) website. The auto reply received from CCSO assigns a case reference number: SO11386-060624 (also pasted below).

S011386-060624

Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens.
Photo credit: Marietta Daily Journal.

Courtesy Cobb County Sheriff’s Department

MDJ, January 19, 2021

Bold, necessary, and overdue”: Sheriff Owens declares end to 287(g) immigration enforcement

“Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens holds a copy of the memo formally ending the office’s involvement with immigration enforcement. Commonly known under the name 287(g), ending the program was a major promise of Owens’ campaign.”

ORR sent today:

Please send me copies of any and all CCSO letters, communications (electronic or hard copy) to and/or from U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security / Immigration and Customs Enforcement concerning, mentioning and/or pertaining to beginning or terminating any MOU/MOA with ICE for 287 (g) authority. Date range: 1 November 2020 to 30 April, 2021.

Please send me a copy of any/all CCSO internal memo(s) or communication(s) concerning or mentioning any effort, inquiry, question, intent or decision to terminate the agreement or MOU/MOA with ICE for 287 (g) authority that existed under Cobb Sheriff Neal Warren for the same date range as above. To be clear, this request includes a copy of the memo held up by Sheriff Craig Owens at an event in January, 2021 in which Sheriff Owens reportedly told the audience he had terminated the 287 (g) agreement and authority as reported by multiple news outlets including the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Marietta Daily Journal in January, 2021.

To be clear: This request includes the request for a copy of the memo pictured in this MDJ news report https://www.mdjonline.com/news/bold-necessary-and-overdue-sheriff-owens-declares-end-to-287-g-immigration-enforcement/article_457130f8-5a7e-11eb-a19f-9331a3092882.html (tagged with the caption “Courtesy Cobb County Sheriff’s Department. Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens holds a copy of the memo formally ending the office’s involvement with immigration enforcement. Commonly known under the name 287(g), ending the program was a major promise of Owens’ campaign”).

Please send me a copy of any existing MOU/MOA between CCSO and U.S. DHS/ICE concerning or granting CCSO 287 (g) authority.

Please contact me with any questions on the above. We expect this request to be expanded.

D.A. King

Marietta, GA. 30066

404-

President, The Dustin Inman Society

https://newdustininmansociety.org

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Screenshot of receipt confirmation received from Cobb County Sheriff’s office via email minutes after we sent the above request:

RE: Open Records Request of June 06, 2024, Reference # S011386-060624

Dear Mr./Ms. KING,

Cobb County received an open records request from you on June 06, 2024. You requested the following:

Please send me copies of any and all CCSO letters, communications (electronic or hard copy) to and/or from U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security / Immigration and Customs Enforcement concerning, mentioning and/or pertaining to beginning or terminating any MOU/MOA with ICE for 287(g) authority. Date range: 1 November 2020 to 30 April, 2021.

To be clear: This request includes the request for a copy of the memo pictured in this MDJ news report (https://www.mdjonline.com/news/bold-necessary-and-overdue-sheriff-owens-declares-end-to-287-g-immigration-enforcement/article_457130f8-5a7e-11eb-a19f-9331a3092882.html (tagged with the caption “Courtesy Cobb County Sheriff’s Department. Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens holds a copy of the memo formally ending the office’s involvement with immigration enforcement. Commonly known under the name 287(g), ending the program was a major promise of Owens’ campaign”).

Please send me a copy of any existing MOU/MOA between CCSO and U.S. DHS/ICE concerning or granting CCSO 287 (g) authority.

We are diligently working on your request but need additional time to fulfill your request. We plan to have a response to you on or before 6/21/24.

Sincerely,

Corrie Hubbard

Cobb County Sheriff’s Office

185 Roswell St

Marietta, GA 30060

770-852-3240

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The below response was sent here via email on June 26, 2024 at 11:48 AM.

RE: Open Records Request of June 06, 2024, Reference # S011386-060624

Dear Mr./Ms. KING,

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office received an open records request from you on June 06, 2024, requesting the following:

Please send me copies of any and all CCSO letters, communications (electronic or hard copy) to and/or from U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security / Immigration and Customs Enforcement concerning, mentioning and/or pertaining to beginning or terminating any MOU/MOA with ICE for 287(g) authority. Date range: 1 November 2020 to 30 April, 2021.

Please send me a copy of any existing MOU/MOA between CCSO and U.S. DHS/ICE concerning or granting CCSO 287 (g) authority.

After a diligent search of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office records, our office has located records responsive to your request. I have attached the corresponding documents for your convenience. In regard to other records that were requested, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office is not the custodian of record. You will need to submit a request to Homeland Security.

The records have been released to our online Public Records Center. You can log into the system and download your responsive records.

Thank you for your patience in awaiting this information.

Sincerely,

Corrie Hubbard

Cobb County Sheriff’s Office

185 Roswell St

Marietta, GA 30060

770-852-3240

To monitor the progress or download responsive records from Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, please login to the Open Records Center.

—>UPDATE: The liberal AJC prints a lengthy correction after demand letter from the Dustin Inman Society. More news on this coming soon.

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Daily Signal News report (‘DEFAMATORY’: Conservative Demands Swing-State Newspaper Retract ‘Hate Group’ Smear’)
on the recent AJC attack here by the great Tyler O’Neil.

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I added educational hyperlinks to the below letter – dak.

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October 18, 2024

VIA U.S. REGULAR MAIL & E-MAIL

Leroy Chapman, Jr., Editor in Chief THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION 223 Perimeter Center Pkwy NE Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Re: Demand for Retraction and Apology

Dear Mr. Chapman, Jr.:

I write on behalf of my client, the Dustin Inman Society (DIS), to demand an immediate retraction and apology for the defamatory statements published in your October 7, 2024, article titled “Democrats in this Georgia district are backing a write-in candidate” by Tia Mitchell.

Through use of internet links, the AJC article wrongfully characterizes the Dustin Inman Society as a “Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group.” This characterization is false, defamatory, and published with actual malice. The Dustin Inman Society pushes for secure borders, is not “anti-immigration” and its proprietors do not hate anyone. Rather, DIS advocates for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and actively opposes unlawful immigration. This distinction is crucial and well-known to staff at your publication.

I paste the offending paragraph from the AJC story:

“A search of activity under her birth name, Karen Sacandy, which Stamper legally changed in 2019, showed that she previously was aligned with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group. The group’s website often linked to Sacandy’s activities, like a letter seeking information about the state’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board and a copy of a letter to the editor supporting legislation to prevent immigrants claiming asylum from obtaining driver’s licenses.”

HEMMER WESSELS MCMURTRY PLLC
250 Grandview Drive, Suite 500, Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 ● Phone 859.344.1188 ● Fax 859.578.3869

October 18, 2024 Page 2

We note the AJC informs readers that the Dustin Inman Society “often” linked to Karen Sacandy/Kate Stamper activities — but produces only two occasions.

Your story, for which DIS founder and president D.A. King was not contacted, informs readers that Sacandy/Stamper “was aligned” with the Dustin Inman Society. We note that polls show that a majority of Americans oppose the federal offense of illegal immigration. Since the letter posted on the DIS site was a published missive to the editor at the Cherokee Tribune, we must ask: does this make that newspaper a “Cherokee County-based anti-immigration hate group”?

Your characterization demonstrates a reckless and vindictive disregard for the truth, rising to the level of actual malice as defined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Actual malice in defamation law refers to publication of a statement with knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard of whether it is false or not. Your repeated mischaracterization of the Dustin Inman Society, despite having been corrected on numerous occasions, clearly meets this standard.

The Dustin Inman Society’s position on immigration is clear and public:

1. It supports sustainable levels of legal immigration through established channels.

2. It opposes unlawful immigration due to various societal concerns, including: – Strain on public resources and services
– Potential and real public safety issues
– Economic impacts on low-wage American workers and America’s poor

– Challenges to the rule of law

3. The Dustin Inman Society defends legal immigrants when media attempt to blur the difference between them and illegal aliens.

Moreover, the Dustin Inman Society’s board includes lawful immigrants who have navigated the proper channels for authorized immigration. This fact alone should dispel any notion that the organization is “anti-immigration.” As he has informed you multiple times over much of the last two decades, D.A. King’s sister is a real, legal immigrant.

While we acknowledge that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Dustin Inman Society as an “anti-immigrant hate group that denigrates all immigrants,” your article presents the “anti-immigration hate group” characterization as the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s independent assessment and statement of fact.

This smear is not only demonstrably false and ignores Mr. King’s many communications to you advising you of the truth, but also demonstrates an exceedingly unprofessional failure to fact-check and verify information before publication.

We demand that the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

October 18, 2024 Page 3

1. Immediately publicly retract the defaming statement in the October 7, 2024, article.

2. Publish a prominent apology, equal in visibility and placement to the original defamatory article.

3. Cease and desist from further defamatory characterizations of the Dustin Inman Society.

Failure to comply with these demands may result in further legal action. We expect your prompt attention to this matter and await your timely response.

Sincerely,

Todd V. McMurtry

cc: James Abely, Esq.