By AP/KWMU
Washington, DC – The U-S Supreme Court ruled Monday that Missouri cannot keep the Ku Klux Klan from the state's Adopt-A-Highway program.
The dispute is over a half-mile or so of Highway 21 near Potosi.
The KKK chapter was turned down because the program bans groups that discriminate based on race or those that courts have said have a history of violence.
The Klan sued and won on grounds that it had a First Amendment free speech right to participate.
The state said in its appeal to the Supreme Court that it didn't want motorists thinking the state had anything good to say about a "horrific, racist group." Some states backed the appeal, saying those that didn't want to partner with the Klan might have to end up abandoning their own cleanup programs.
The Supreme Court set aside that appeal.
But the Klan might have a hard time proving they've adopted the highway; after past court victories, the signs that the state put up - saying the KKK had adopted the road - were quickly stolen.