AG files lawsuit against Birmingham over Confederate monument

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/08/ag_files_lawsuit_again
st_birmi.html

The Alabama Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against the city
of Birmingham and Mayor William Bell for violating state law and covering
a Confederate monument in Linn Park.

"In accordance with the law, my office has determined that by affixing
tarps and placing plywood around the Linn Park memorial such that it is
hidden from view, the defendants have 'altered' or 'otherwise disturbed'
the memorial in violation of the letter and spirit of the Alabama Memorial
Preservation Act," Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a Wednesday
afternoon statement. "The city of Birmingham does not have the right to
violate the law and leaves my office with no choice but to file suit."

The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson County
Circuit Court, asks a judge to declare that the city has violated state
law and impose a $25,000 fine for each day the monument is covered.

The case was assigned to Judge Michael Graffeo.

Bell told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the city's legal department
reviewed the law. He said the plywood barrier doesn't break the Alabama
Memorial Preservation Act.

"We have not altered the monument in any way," he said. "The structure
that we put around it is a protective barrier as well as a structure that
doesn't touch the monument in any way...."

Following the violent incident involving white supremacists and counter
protesters in Charlottesville, Va., Bell said the plywood barrier was
installed to protect the monument from possible vandalism from either
side.

Bell said he looks forward to the court system clarifying the new law.

"We look forward to having some clarification as to what the municipal
authority is over parks of the city of Birmingham and what we can and
cannot do with any item that might sit on the park," he said.

The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, passed by the Alabama Legislature
and signed into law in 2017, prohibits the relocation, removal,
alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of any architecturally
significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument
located on public property which has been in place for 40 or more years,
the AG's office stated.

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Linn Park, which was
dedicated in 1905, is older than the Jefferson Memorial in Washington,
D.C., Marshall said.

When asked about the Birmingham controversy while visiting Huntsville on
Wednesday morning, Gov. Kay Ivey said: "The attorney general will be
involved in determining if that particular structure falls under the
legislation that was passed about the monuments. And if it is, he will
follow the law and apply the law."

State Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, the sponsor of the Alabama Memorial
Preservation Act, praised Marshall for "standing up for the rule of law.

"It is unfortunate that Mayor William Bell has decided to elevate his own
personal preferences above the law in covering the monument at Linn Park,"
he said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. "If Mayor Bell believes his
city is best served by the monument's alteration or removal, he should
follow the law and apply for a waiver as outlined in the Memorial
Preservation Act.

"Nationally, there has been much controversy recently around Civil War
monuments," Allen continued. "Here in Alabama, I am optimistic we can
continue to have a thoughtful dialogue over the appropriate place for
monuments to the Alabamians who died during the Civil War. Mayor Bell's
action violates the law, but it also harms efforts to responsibly consider
how we should best remember the past."

Bell ordered the covering of the Confederate monument on Tuesday
afternoon. It was shrouded in plywood later that night.

The mayor's move came hours after Birmingham City Council President
Johnathan Austin publicly asked Bell to defy state law and remove the
monument.

Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen criticized the
attorney general for suing Birmingham.

"In the wake of deadly violence in Charlottesville, cities around the
country are questioning why in a nation dedicated to equality for all, we
continue to celebrate and memorialize the Confederacy. Some of these
cities are even removing Confederate monuments from public spaces. But in
Alabama, state officials are suing the city of Birmingham for trying to do
what is right," he said in a Wednesday evening statement.

"The Alabama Legislature should never have passed a law banning the
removal of these symbols which represent the oppression of an entire race.
Gov. Kay Ivey should never have signed it. If the leaders of Birmingham -
a city forever linked to the civil rights movement - believe such
monuments do not represent their city's values, they should have the
ability to remove them. This law demonstrates that white supremacy and
hate prevail in Alabama. It will continue to force people of color to live
and work in communities where they remain in the shadow of the
Confederacy."

Earlier on Wednesday, Save Our South, non-profit that aims to "preserve
Southern heritage and historical monuments across the United States,"
threatened to sue the city of Birmingham if it took steps to remove the
monument.

The group sued the city in 2015 to prevent the removal of the same
monument. The suit was later dismissed.

According to Judge Graffeo's 2015 order dismissing the case, he stated
that he had been "advised all parties stipulate to dismissing this action,
without prejudice" - meaning a suit could be brought again.


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