Monument protection

After concurring with two House amendments, the Senate on Monday voted to send the governor a bill that aims to protect historical monuments on public property, including those commemorating the Civil War.

The Senate voted 23-5 to approve Senate Bill 553, by Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale.

SB553 would define a historical monument as a statue, memorial, gravestone plate, plaque or historical flag display that is on public property and was installed, erected for or named or dedicated in honor of a historical person, event, public service organization, firefighter, police officer, military organization or military unit. The bill also says the monument must either be listed on the National Register of Historic Places or be in a veterans’ cemetery.

The bill lists 17 military operations that monuments would represent, among them the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Border War, World War I and World War II.

Under SB553, a “historical monument shall not be relocated, vandalized, damaged, destroyed, removed, altered, renamed, rededicated or otherwise disturbed.” An entity controlling public property that is itself a historical monument or on which a monument sits may petition the History Commission for a waiver from the requirements of the bill.