The remains of the Confederate Monument in downtown Decatur, Georgia. The Statue was removed in June of 2020 as the protests in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing sparked the removal of many Conferderate monuments across the country. Confederate Monument Removal Lawsuit Returns to DeKalb Court in Test of Sovereign Immunity
Plaintiff-appellant counsel Walker Chandler said that this raises "interesting questions" concerning sovereign immunity after Georgia voters approved a 2020 ballot measure that would make it easier for citizens to challenge the constitutionality of state actions.
February 28, 2024 at 03:53 PM
3 minute read
What You Need to Know
- An intermediate court originally upheld the case's dismissal, but revisited after the state Supreme Court issued an opinion in a related case.
- As a result, the Court of Appeals issued a new opinion that reversed the dismissal of claims brought by residents of DeKalb County.
- Now those complaints will be revisited in trial court to determine if they are barred by sovereign immunity.
Courts are still handing down rulings in the rush of civil litigation that followed Confederate monument removals following the racial justice protests of 2020. The latest of these was handed down by the Georgia Court of Appeals on Feb. 23, concerning the removal of one such monument in downtown Decatur, the seat of DeKalb County.
A unanimous opinion authored by Presiding Judge Sarah Doyle based on the state Supreme Court's ruling in a similar Sons of Confederate Veterans case last year determined that while the organization didn't have standing because it was not a community stakeholder, individual citizens also named in the suits were still able to bring their claims. Now the case will head back to the Superior Court of DeKalb County to see if it's barred by sovereign immunity.
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