Try as they might to erase American history, the left didn’t succeed this time around.
The Alabama Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to uphold a state law that protects Confederate monuments, according to The Hill.
Preserving history
In Birmingham, Alabama, there stands a 52-foot tall obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Considering this to be some kind of affront, officials of the city of Birmingham, a majority-black city, decided in 2017 to hide the statue with plywood panels, according to the Associated Press.
The state of Alabama soon brought legal action against the city for violating the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which “prohibits relocating, removing, altering, or renaming public buildings, streets, and memorials that have been standing for more than 40 years.”
As ABC News reports: “The legislation doesn’t specifically mention Confederate monuments, but it was enacted as some Southern states and cities began removing monuments and emblems of the Confederacy.”
As the matter made its way through the Alabama courts, the question became one of constitutionality. In January, when the case went before the Jefferson County Circuit Court, a judge decided that the act in question indeed violates First Amendment rights and is thus unconstitutional.
But the state appealed the decision to its highest court, where the justices — who are all reported to lean conservative — reversed the circuit court’s decision, according to U.S. News & World Report. The state Supreme Court went on to issue the city of Birmingham a fine of $25,000.
A victory for Alabama
In response to the ruling, a spokesman for the city suggested that the judges were guided by politics, not law.
“This ruling appears to be less about the rule of law and more about politics,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Alabama state officials, including state Attorney General Steve Marshall, celebrated the decision.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is a victory for the Alabama law which seeks to protect historical monuments,” Marshall said. “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.”
Indeed, how can we learn from history if we don’t even acknowledge it?
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