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Alabama files lawsuit against Birmingham after city covers Confederate monument

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A lawsuit has been filed against the City of Birmingham and Mayor William Bell for violating the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.

Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Wednesday that his office has filed suit in Jefferson County Circuit Court after Bell covered a Confederate monument at Linn Park across From City Hall. The covering of the monument on Tuesday came in the wake of protests and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“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,” said Attorney General Marshall.  “The City of Birmingham does not have the right to violate the law and leaves my office with no choice but to file suit.”

Bell claimed the monument was covered for protection from vandalism, but will look at ways to challenge the state’s law restricting removal of any statues in its parks.

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 Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park, which was dedicated in 1905, is older than the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.

You can read the entire lawsuit filed against the City Of Birmingham and Mayor Bell by clicking here.

Jeremy Law for SylacaugaNews.com | © 2017, SylacaugaNews.com/Marble City Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.


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