Alabama Supreme Court upholds law protecting Confederate monuments

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The Hill

The Alabama Supreme Court upheld a state law protecting Confederate monuments on Wednesday, ordering the city of Birmingham to remove panels it had placed in front of one. 

The all-Republican court ruled in favor of the state, which had sued the majority-black city for placing plywood panels that blocked the inscriptions on a 52-foot tall obelisk for Confederate veterans, ABC News reported. The justices reversed a circuit judge’s ruling striking down the law and ordered the judge to fine the city $25,000.

The Jefferson County Circuit Court judge had decided in January that the Alabama law outlawing relocating, removing, changing or renaming buildings, streets and memorials that have been standing for more than 40 years violated free speech rights.