Lawsuit: New Orleans can’t remove Rebel statues

NEW ORLEANS — A lawsuit in federal court, seeking to keep New Orleans from removing prominent Confederate monuments, alleges that the city doesn’t own the land under three of the monuments, and that state and federal laws protect the statues from being removed.

The suit, filed shortly after the City Council voted Thursday to remove four monuments, asks U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans to halt the removal plans. The suit was filed by three preservation organizations and a New Orleans chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The decision by New Orleans is one of the most sweeping gestures yet by an American city to sever ties with its Confederate past. New Orleans, like other places, was spurred into action to remove Confederate symbols after the shooting at an black church in South Carolina in June left nine parishioners dead.

The monuments scheduled for removal include a 60-foottall marble column and statue dedicated to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and a large equestrian statue of P.G.T. Beauregard, a Louisiana-born Confederate general.

Also up for removal are a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and an obelisk dedicated to a group of white supremacists who sought to topple a biracial Reconstruction government in New Orleans.

The lawsuit says the monuments are part of the city’s history and should be protected.

“Regardless whether the Civil War era is regarded as a catastrophic mistake or a noble endeavor, it is undeniably a formative event in the history of Louisiana,” the lawsuit says. “It is the source of much of the cultural heritage [of] this city and state, including countless novels, short stories, plays, monuments, statues, films, stories, songs, legends and other expressions of cultural identity.”

The city is relying on an ordinance that allows it to take down “nuisance” monuments on public property or that are under its control, if the monuments foster dangerous and unlawful ideologies of supremacy or may become rallying points for violent demonstrations.

City officials say they won’t remove the monuments before a Jan. 14 hearing in the case, according to court documents filed Friday.

The lawsuit is aimed at Mayor Mitch Landrieu. It also names the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal transportation officials for their role in paying for streetcar work that has, according to the suit, damaged the monuments.

The suit also contends that the monuments should be considered historic elements of nearby streetcar lines, and thus should be retained.

Officials with the city and the Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A lawyer for the plaintiffs declined to comment.

Louis R. Koerner Jr., a New Orleans lawyer and historian not involved in the case, said the lawsuit has merit.

“I think they put their foot out and tripped everybody up,” he said. He said the questions raised about whether the monuments should be viewed as integral to the streetcar work were clever and could force the city into a lengthy historic review process.

The 51-page lawsuit contends that the monuments’ removal would be unlawful on many other grounds — including violating laws protecting monuments dedicated to military veterans and history.