Code of Conduct

All DSA members are subject to the national DSA Code of Conduct for Members.

The national DSA Meeting Code of Conduct (excerpt below) was adopted as Atlanta DSA’s Code of Conduct on August 22, 2020.

1. Purpose

A primary goal of DSA is to be welcoming and inclusive to our members and others who share DSA’s core values of liberty, equality, solidarity, as well as our commitment to restructuring gender and cultural relationships to be more equitable and not oppressive within the context of building a diverse working class movement. As such, we are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.

This code of conduct outlines DSA’s expectations for all those who participate in DSA meetings, conferences, and other public-facing events, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior. That includes DSA members, allies, vendors, donors, supporters, and others.

We invite all DSA members and allies to help us create welcoming and positive experiences for everyone.

2. Expected Behavior

The following behaviors are expected and requested of all persons–including members– who participate in DSA meetings, conferences and other events:

  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech;
  • Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of DSA;
  • Exercise consideration and in your speech and actions;
  • Share analysis and opinions rather than accusations;
  • Comply with applicable Community Agreements;
  • Be responsible for the use of information, equipment, and resources to which you have access by reason of your membership in DSA;
  • Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants.
  • Alert a DSA chapter officer if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential;
  • Trust your gut if you notice someone who might be an infiltrator, and let a DSA chapter officer know.**

3. Unacceptable Behavior

The following behaviors are unacceptable within our community and may lead to the person being subject to our harassment policy or code of conduct and expulsion process:

  • Violence, threats of violence or violent language directed against another person;
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language;
  • Posting or displaying sexually explicit or violent material;
  • Posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”);
  • Personal insults, particularly those related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or disability;
  • Inappropriate photography or recording. You should have someone’s consent before taking their photograph and/or recording their voice;
  • Inappropriate physical contact. You should have someone’s consent before touching them;
  • Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes: sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping, and unwelcome sexual advances;
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following (online or in person);
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior;
  • Disruption of community events, including meetings, talks and presentations; including by anyone who is in substantial disagreement with the principles or policies of the organization, as provided by the DSA Constitution.

Undemocratic, disruptive behavior is unacceptable within our community and may lead to the person being subject to our harassment policy or code of conduct and expulsion process.

Undemocratic, disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to:

  • Unacceptable behavior or violations of chapter policy that have the purpose or effect of unfairly manipulating elections or votes of the chapter.
  • Behavior that has the purpose or effect of disrupting chapter programming or obstructing the implementation of democratic decisions of the chapter.
  • Covertly intervening in the chapter’s internal democratic decision-making on behalf of an external organization, party, or non-member(s).

Examples of undemocratic, disruptive behavior under this definition would include:

  • Fabricating candidate statements in an Atlanta DSA election without the knowledge or consent of the candidate.
  • Heckling or disrupting an Atlanta DSA meeting in order to block a vote from being held.
  • Setting up an external, competing organization and raiding Atlanta DSA’s membership for recruitment.

4. Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

Unacceptable behavior from any person who attends a DSA meeting, conference, or event will not be tolerated. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.

Infiltrators will be removed from meetings, conferences, and all other events immediately. An infiltrator is defined as anyone who is in substantial disagreement with the principles or policies of the organization, as provided by the DSA Constitution.

If a person engages in unacceptable behavior, DSA leaders/organizers may take any immediate action they deem appropriate, including expulsion from the meeting, conference or event, and without refund in the case of a paid event. Until the chapter can investigate whether the unacceptable behavior violated DSA’s harassment policy and/or any applicable code of conduct, the person may be prohibited from further participation in the organization.

5. Reporting Guidelines

If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a meeting marshal, HGO, or DSA officer (including the elected chapter leadership and/or meeting or committee chair).

Solely as an option of critical need, depending on the nature of the conduct, DSA officers may help community members engage with local law enforcement or to otherwise help those experiencing unacceptable behavior feel safe. At in-person events, organizers will also provide escorts as desired by the person experiencing distress.

Chapter HGOs (harassment grievance officers) can assist with filing a grievance for a potential violation of DSA’s harassment policy, Resolution 33, and/or chapter codes of conduct. If an HGO is not present at the meeting, please contact a chapter officer or look on the chapter website to obtain the confidential email address to submit a grievance.

6. Harassment and Grievance Procedures

Atlanta DSA has DSA’s national harassment policy, also known as Resolution 33 from the 2017 National Convention, as its basic harassment policy. We have also adopted the following standards that go above and beyond the national policy:

  1. Chapter HGOs shall publicly post the yearly report described in their Resolution 33 responsibilities. The report shall include, but is not limited to, the following statistics and subjects:
    1. How many reports were made;
    2. How many were taken to the disciplinary process;
    3. How many disciplinary actions were taken;
    4. The number of pending cases;
    5. Any recommended changes for making the reporting system more effective; and
    6. A discussion of current challenges.
  2. The report shall break out all statistics by whether or not they fall under Resolution 33, even if Resolution 33 would not otherwise require statistics on conduct not covered by Resolution 33. Any discussions shall cover the HGOs’ entire scope of work, regardless of whether such work is included under Resolution 33.
  3. The local HGOs will send the yearly report to the national HGOs no later than January 1 of the new year.
  4. The yearly report shall comply with the Resolution 33 requirement that it not include identifying information of any parties, and furthermore shall not discuss any individual cases.
  5. Within two weeks of their selection, HGOs shall:
    1. Review the following training videos provided on the National DSA resource page
      1. Chapter HGO Training
      2. Complex Conflict Resolution Training
    2. Review National DSA HGO Investigation Guidelines
    3. Update their information with National DSA
    4. Confirm by sworn written statement to the Steering Committee that all training material has been completely reviewed.
  6. The Steering Committee may adopt reasonable additional standards for training and must publish such standards under the member conduct webpage. If the base training material as described above is updated by National DSA, the Steering Committee may amend the basic training requirement to comply with the materials rolled out by the National HGO.
  7. Any Steering Committee member with a potential conflict of interest, including but not limited to being named in a complaint or being the complainant, must recuse themselves from receiving or voting on a report made by an HGO in such a case.
  8. Members anticipating a current HGO may have a conflict of interest with the grievance they will submit or if members wish to file a grievance against an acting chapter HGO they may:
    1. Submit their grievance directly to a non-party HGO.
    2. Contact the National HGO.

7. Membership Probation

In the case of suspension, at the end of the recommended suspension period, an individual will be placed on a period of membership probation equal to the length of the suspension (e.g. a three-month suspension period would equal a three-month probationary period). 

Membership probation may include the following sanctions at the discretion of the Harassment Grievance Officer(s): 

  1. Escalating sanctions such as an additional suspension or expulsion in the case of further violations of the Code of Conduct
  2. Access restrictions on membership data, digital assets, and digital spaces — including but not limited to social media accounts, the chapter website, chapter email lists, and chapter communication platforms such as Slack.
  3. Ineligibility to run for or hold any elected or appointed position in DSA, Atlanta DSA, or any subdivision thereof
  4. Restriction of speaking rights or recognition in meetings of Atlanta DSA or any subdivision thereof

8. Scope

We expect all community participants (DSA staff, members, allies, vendors, donors, supporters and others) to abide by this Code of Conduct in all community venues–online and in-person–as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to DSA business.

This code of conduct and its related procedures also applies to unacceptable behavior occurring outside the scope of community activities when such behavior has the potential to adversely affect the safety and well-being of community members.

**For some guidance as to what infiltrators historically do, please read this and this.

We are the Atlanta chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the country. We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few.

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