Will the Confederate statues be moved in Macon? Here’s an update on lawsuit, funding

A lawsuit attempting to prevent the removal of two Confederate statues from downtown Macon is back in a Bibb County courtroom.

Federal Judge Hugh Lawson decided to remand the case to Bibb County Superior Court, stating his U.S. District Court did not have jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s remaining state claims, according to the order.

The plaintiff Martin Bell, the state commander of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars Georgia Society Inc., which is also listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed the complaint against Macon-Bibb County with state and federal charges in Bibb County Superior Court.

Because the complaint had federal charges, Bibb County filed a notice of removal to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, which was granted.

Bell amended his complaint, removing the federal charges and asking the court to send the case back to Bibb County Superior Court. Lawson sent the case back to Bibb County Superior Court on Nov. 18.

Bell announced this action as a win for his crusade against Bibb County for trying to move the Confederate monuments in downtown Macon.

“I enjoyed meeting Judge Lawson today and greatly appreciate his decision in our favor. I wish to thank not only my attorney Walker Chandler but also the attorneys for the City, Duke Groover and Elizabeth Hall, all of whom were very kind, courteous and professional. In addition I would like to thank all of my supporters who showed up for the trial today,” Bell said in a news release.

Chris Floore, spokesperson for Macon-Bibb, said he didn’t consider the decision a loss or a win for the county. The case was simply moved back to Bibb County Superior Court because Bell dropped the federal charges, he said.

“We are still fully committed to improving our downtown green space to make it more welcoming and inviting for all people,” Floore said. “We have a great plan that has designated something for that area of downtown through the Macon Action Plan, and we have an opportunity, and we have some available funds now and private interest to do that work. So, we’re going to continue to work through the court process.”

Origins of the case

Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-4 on July 27 to approve a resolution to move two monuments in downtown Macon that are affiliated with the Confederacy. One of the monuments is the anonymous Confederate soldier statue at the intersection of Cotton Avenue and Second Street. The other is the Women of the South monument in Proudeit Park near the intersection of Poplar Street and First Street.

The resolution would move both statues to Whittle Park outside of Rose Hill Cemetery to allow the city to perform road improvements where they are located as well as improve Rosa Parks Square.

Shortly after the mayor approved the resolution, Bell filed the lawsuit in Bibb County Superior Court.

Bibb County judges recused themselves from the court case, which led Rucker Smith, the chief judge of the Southwestern Judicial Circuit, to grant Bell a temporary injunction. The injunction prevented Bibb County from doing anything to “move, obscure, deface” or let “harm of any kind” come to the monuments.

Bell claims in the lawsuit that “the proposed moving of the Monuments is a racially-motivated action designed for political purposes to placate the mob mentalities current in American society.” He also mentioned the county allowing residents to erect a #BlocktheHate mural around the monuments, which was designed to promote unity and love while protecting the monuments from destruction, according to the organizers of the mural.

Now that the case has been moved back to Bibb County Superior Court, Floore said he didn’t know which judge the case would be assigned to or when the next hearing will be.

Funding for the project

The project required a minimum of $500,000 to be raised before the county could move the Confederate soldier statue. Another $1.5 million has to be raised to move the the Women of the South monument to Whittle Park and start construction on the roundabout at Poplar and First Streets.

An additional $3 million has to be allocated to the project in order to start Rosa Parks Square improvements for a total of $5 million for the project.

Floore said the commission has already allocated $200,000 to the project from funds that were for storm water and sewage infrastructure.

The Community Foundation of Central Georgia has also started a fund for the project for private donors and has raised around $160,000, Floore said.

The commission denied a resolution to allocate $300,000 to the project on Nov. 17.

History of the monuments

The lawsuit against Macon-Bibb County cites the Georgia law that restricts cities and counties from removing monuments, which has prevented the Confederate monument in Macon from being moved in the past.

The exceptions in the law include moving the monuments for the construction of roads or streets, which is the reason behind Macon-Bibb County’s resolution.

If the monuments are moved, they have to be moved to a place of “similar prominence,” according to the Georgia law.

The Confederate soldier statue, constructed in the late 1870s, stood at the intersection of Second and Mulberry Streets before being moved to the intersection at Cotton Avenue in the mid-1950s to improve traffic flow near the Bibb County Courthouse, according to Telegraph archives.

At the time of the first relocation, Civil War-era artifacts were found in a box in the base of the statue, including a letter from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Confederate bonds, old newspapers, coins and pictures. A photocopy of an additional letter from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was placed in the box along with the original items.

Protests to move the statues have continued throughout the years and more surfaced after the killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

A former mayor of Macon, Jack Ellis, called for the statue at Cotton Avenue Plaza to be moved at a protest in June.

“We’re not asking to put it in a dungeon. We’re not asking that it be thrown in the Ocmulgee River. We’re not asking that it be desecrated,” Ellis said, in the article. “We ask that it be put in its proper place, and that’s Rose Hill Cemetery, where those soldiers are buried and where this belongs because it, too, is dead. This era is dead, dead and gone. Put it in the cemetery where it belongs.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 12:00 AM.