Metro Atlanta
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)
By
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?

ExploreContinue to myAJC.com to read about Gwinnett’s current social media policy, those of other metro Atlanta counties and more about what could or should be done.

In other Gwinnett news:

Police are actively searching for the man they said tried to force his way inside the woman's home.

About the Author

Before taking over the AJC's Sports Daily newsletter, Tyler Estep spent two years writing the A.M. ATL newsletter. A Gwinnett County native and University of Georgia graduate, he has been with the AJC since 2015 and previously worked as a reporter on the breaking news, hyperlocal and local government teams.

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