Birmingham Fighting State Over Confederate Monument
Wants judge to deny state fines.
(Photo Courtesy WIAT TV, Birmingham)
(AP) – The city of Birmingham is asking a judge to dismiss the state of Alabama’s lawsuit challenging a plywood screen that was built to hide a Confederate monument in a downtown park. A motion filed by the city denies that the box-like structure violates a new state law prohibiting the removal or alteration of historic monuments. The request also says the state can’t enforce a $25,000-a-day fine that’s included in the law for anyone who tampers with a historic memorial. The state hasn’t yet responded to the city’s motion, filed late Tuesday. A county judge has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 8. City workers installed a wooden wall around a memorial to rebel soldiers and sailors days after deadly violence over a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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