Alabama Supreme Court ruled Birmingham cannot move nor change Confederate monuments

The city also has to pay the state $25,000 in fines.

The Alabama Supreme Court upheld a state law barring cities like Birmingham from moving or changing Confederate monuments.

Megan Sims

Nov 29, 2019

After almost a year-long battle, the Alabama Supreme Court proved that even with the presence of Black Lives Matter, a former Black President, and an elevated amount of Black excellence and achievement in this country, the South still has a long way to go.

On Wednesday, a ruling was passed that would keep Birmingham, which is predominately Black, from revising or removing any of the Confederate monuments in the city. According to ABC News, the ruling concluded that the city violated the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.

The state sued Birmingham for placing wooden plywood panels that blocked the inscriptions on a 52-foot tall obelisk praising the heroism of Confederate veterans.

Knowing the history of racial violence during the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, the presence of the monument has made some in the community more than uncomfortable.

ABC News reported that when the state initially sued, a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of Birmingham, deciding that the Alabama law outlawing relocating, removing, changing or renaming buildings, streets, and memorials that had been in place for more than 40 years, actually violated free speech rights.

The Alabama Supreme Court decision now upholds the original law and reversed the decision that was made in January.

In a statement obtained by The Hill, a spokesperson for the city expressed their disappointment with the justices’ decision.

“This ruling appears to be less about the rule of law and more about politics,” Rick Journey, director of communications in Birmingham’s office of public information said.

In addition to Birmingham having to remove the adjustments made on the monument, the city has also been fined $25,000.

According to The Hill, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who had called for the repeal of the circuit judge’s decision, said the state supreme court made the “correct conclusion.”

“The Supreme Court’s ruling is a victory for the Alabama law which seeks to protect historical monuments,” Marshall said in a statement.

“The City of Birmingham acted unlawfully when it erected barriers to obstruct the view of the 114-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park.”

Grio fam, what do you think? Should the monument remain out in the open or do the citizens of Birmingham have the right to obstruct the view? Sound off below.