Metro Atlanta

Should Gwinnett do more to police officials’ social media activity?

Now-former Gwinnett Magistrate Judge Jim Hinkle (left) and current Gwinnett Commissioner Tommy Hunter have both caused uproar with posts on the personal social media pages. (Photos via Gwinnett County)
Now-former Gwinnett Magistrate Judge Jim Hinkle (left) and current Gwinnett Commissioner Tommy Hunter have both caused uproar with posts on the personal social media pages. (Photos via Gwinnett County)
Aug 25, 2017

A county commissioner calling a civil rights icon a "racist pig" and referring to roughly half of his constituents as "a bunch of idiots."

A magistrate court judge comparing those protesting Confederate monuments to ISIS.

Both have happened in Gwinnett County this year — and both incidents happened on Facebook.

The fallout from each situations was different. The commissioner, Tommy Hunter, has been publicly reprimanded and protests have flooded board meetings for more than seven months, but he's vowed to remain in office. The judge, Jim Hinkle, was suspended and quickly resigned.

But both incidents raise the question: What, if anything, governments should do to try and prevent such public displays?

In other Gwinnett news:

About the Author

Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.

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