The city of Cumming claims “sovereign immunity” in its response to a lawsuit filed by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.City Attorney Dana Miles did not comment on the response, citing his firm’s policy not to comment on ongoing litigation.Miles did provide a copy of the response, however, which contends that since Mayor H. Ford Gravitt was acting in his official capacity as mayor, under the Georgia Constitution, he has “sovereign immunity.”Attorney General Sam Olens filed the suit against Gravitt and the city in June as a result of an incident that occurred during a City Council meeting April 17.Nydia Tisdale, a political activist from Roswell, and her video camera were removed on Gravitt’s orders, according to the lawsuit.She was also reportedly told that video recording was not permitted and later that she could not record the meeting on her still camera.Olens has said that Gravitt’s actions during the meeting were violations of Georgia’s recently passed Open Meetings Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal on the day of the incident.The new law, as well as the old, both state that video and audio recordings are permitted during public meetings.“Both the City of Cumming and Mayor Gravitt fall within the penumbra of sovereign immunity provided for by the Georgia Constitution,” the city’s response to Olens’ lawsuit states.The response goes on to quote portions of the state Constitution: “... officers and employees of the state or its departments and agencies shall not be subject to suit or liability, and no judgment shall be entered against them, for performance or nonperformance of their official functions.”The response argues that since Gravitt was “presiding over a meeting of the governing authority of the City of Cumming,” he was acting in an official capacity.“The City and Mayor Gravitt have been sued by the Attorney General in a civil action under the newly enacted House Bill 397 despite their Sovereign and Official Immunities. The parties are uncertain and insecure with respect to their rights and obligations in this matter,” the response states.