INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Kentucky Confederate Monument Removal From University Of Louisville Blocked By Judge

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 03:26 PST, May 3, 2016

The Kentucky Confederate monument slated for removal from city property on the University of Louisville campus has been blocked, at least temporarily, by a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge.

Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman issued a court order to prevent Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Greg Fischer from moving the Confederate monument from where it has stood for about 120 years. The 70-foot-tall monument next to the campus honors soldiers from the state who served and lost their lives during the Civil War.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans and Everett Corley, a Republican Congressional candidate, jointly petitioned the Jefferson County court for the restraining order to prevent the removal of the Kentucky Confederate monument on Monday, Fox News reports. According to court documents, the filers maintain the Louisville mayor does not have the authority to remove the monument, nor did he follow proper protocol for such an action.

Corley, who is a real estate agent, is running against two other GOP candidates and will take on Representative John Yarmuth in the fall if he wins the primary race. The outsider candidate deemed the removal of the Louisville Confederate monument a “2016 version of book burning.” He added that to the Confederate dead of Kentucky, removal of the monument would be an insult to their service.

Ironically, the push to remove the monument occurred during the final days of April, which is Confederate Memorial Month, Veterans Today notes.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Mayor Greg Fischer and the president of the University of Louisville held a press conference to announce the Confederate monument would be taken down, cleaned, and placed in storage until a “proper” new location for its display could be chosen.

“It’s time for us to move this monument to a more appropriate place,” President James Ramsey said at the press conference held at the foot of the Confederate monument.

The Kentucky Confederate Monument Issue has Sparked Heated Debate on Social Media

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell stated during the restraining order hearing that he would continue to steadfastly defend the right of city and county governmental entities to remove the Kentucky Confederate monument from its high-profile spot next to the campus. The Civil War monument is currently located at the intersection of Second and Third Streets next to an expansive Speed Art museum, which recently underwent a $60 million renovation.

Confederate soldiers have been considered United States veterans since 1958, Military.com reports. The Department of Veterans Affairs publicly confirmed all Civil War soldiers who fought for the Confederate States of America are U.S. veterans when a bill was passed to raise military pensions. The term “veteran” includes any man who served in either the ground or naval forces for the CSA during the war between the states, Congress determined.

A separate, but related, bill also stipulated Confederate veterans would receive a monthly pension equal to the amount of other veterans and subject to the same regulations. Confederate veteran Private Pleasant Riggs Crump of Alabama died in 1951 — he was the last known Confederate veteran. Albert Henry Woolson, the last known Union veteran, reportedly died in 1956. The veteran designation and corresponding pension payments were reportedly beneficial to the heirs of Civil War soldiers who fought for the South. In 2015, the VA reportedly acknowledged the agency was still paying survivor benefits to a child of a Civil War veteran.

What do you think about the Kentucky Confederate monument debate and restraining order issued to prevent its removal?

[Image via dc_slim/Shutterstock.com]

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