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AG warns monument removal could lead to ‘lawlessness’

Posted by Dale Liesch | Nov 25, 2020 | Bay Briefs, Latest | 1 |

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall condemned municipal leaders who take down Confederate monuments in violation of state law, months after Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson had the likeness of Adm. Raphael Semmes removed from downtown. 

In a video released Monday, Nov. 23, Marshall discussed violations of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act statewide. 

“First, any elected official who removes a historic monument or statue in violation of Alabama law has broken the law,” Marshall said. “He has not simply decided to pay a fee so that he can lawfully have the monument or statue removed. He has committed an illegal act.” 

The Legislature alone is vested with the authority to make laws, Marshall said, and he urged those leaders who disagree with the law to work through the lawmaking body to change it. 

“I urge my fellow Alabamians to take note of those casting votes and spending their tax dollars to violate a law of this state,” Marshall said. “It is now a question of when, not if, these same leaders will cast aside yet another law — being guided only by the political winds of the moment.”

Despite the video, Stimpson’s office said in a statement it believes the matter is finished. 

“The city of Mobile resolved all issues related to the removal of the Admiral Raphael Semmes statue with Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in June without litigation,” city spokesperson Jason Johnson wrote in a statement. “In July, a $25,000 civil penalty was paid entirely with funds donated by members of our community. If there are ongoing issues with decisions made in other parts of the state, those have no bearing on the city of Mobile.” 

Marshall and the city signed a memorandum of understanding related to the issue on June 15. 

Stimpson had the Semmes statue removed overnight on June 4 amid the threat of protests over its presence at the intersection of Royal and Government streets. 

The statue, commissioned in 1900 by a Confederate veterans group and rededicated in 2000 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Raphael Semmes Camp #11, was moved to the History Museum of Mobile, where the city believes proper context for the monument can be added. 

In responding to other municipalities following the state’s bigger cities in removing statues and monuments, Marshall warned of these places allowing “the mob to take over.” 

“It all starts with subtle non-enforcement of laws and ordinances, and quickly devolves into utter lawlessness,” he said. “As a state, we must remain vigilant that those elected to govern our localities do not lead us slowly down the same road.”

 

 

 

 

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About The Author

Dale Liesch

Dale Liesch

Dale Liesch has been a reporter at Lagniappe since February 2014. He covers all aspects of the city of Mobile, including the mayor, City Council, the Mobile Housing Board of Commissioners, GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico and others. He studied journalism at The University of Alabama and graduated in 2007. He came to Lagniappe, after several years in the newspaper industry. He achieved the position of news editor at The Alexander City Outlook before moving to Virginia and then subsequently moving back a few years later. He has a number of Alabama and Virginia Press association awards to his name. He grew up in the wilderness of Baldwin County, among several different varieties of animals including: dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, a horse and an angry goat. He now lives in the Oakleigh neighborhood of Mobile with his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Joan. The family currently has no goats, angry or otherwise, but is ruled by the whims of two very energetic dogs.

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