From left, Knighthawk, April Hanson and her husband Harley Hanson, members of the International Keystone Knights Realm of Georgia, perform a traditional Klan salute along the portion of highway they want to adopt allowing them to put up a sign and do litter removal near Blairsville, Ga., Sunday, June 10, 2012. The Ku Klux Klan group wants to join Georgia's "Adopt-A-Highway" program for litter removal, which could force state officials to make difficult decisions on the application. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)

ATLANTA | The American Civil Liberties Union will help the Ku Klux Klan in its bid to join Georgia’s highway cleanup program as a legal fight looms.

From left, Knighthawk, April Hanson and her husband Harley Hanson, members of the International Keystone Knights Realm of Georgia, perform a traditional Klan salute along the portion of highway they want to adopt allowing them to put up a sign and do litter removal near Blairsville, Ga., Sunday, June 10, 2012. The Ku Klux Klan group wants to join Georgia’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program for litter removal, which could force state officials to make difficult decisions on the application. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)
From left, Knighthawk, April Hanson and her husband Harley Hanson, members of the International Keystone Knights Realm of Georgia, perform a traditional Klan salute along the portion of highway they want to adopt allowing them to put up a sign and do litter removal near Blairsville, Ga., Sunday, June 10, 2012. The Ku Klux Klan group wants to join Georgia’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program for litter removal, which could force state officials to make difficult decisions on the application. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)

ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Debbie Seagraves tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (https://bit.ly/MsnzdD) that the civil rights group will assist the Klan in its battle with the state.

The International Keystone Knights of the KKK applied to join the “Adopt-A-Highway” program along part of Route 515 in the north Georgia mountains. Participating groups are recognized with a sign along the road they adopt.

State officials announced this month they would deny the KKK group’s application, setting up the legal showdown.

Seagraves says the ACLU is still working on its strategy for representing the group in what it considers a First Amendment case.