A judge has ruled that Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has the right to remove a 121-year-old Confederate monument from near the University of Louisville, where it was increasingly viewed as an inappropriate reminder of racism amid a diverse college campus.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman's written ruling affirmed a May 25 verbal decision to deny an injunction sought by plaintiffs, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who had earlier won a temporary restraining order halting removal work. It also granted Fischer's motion to dismiss the case — allowing the city, which had pledged to do no removal work until the ruling, to press ahead.
"We thought we were on the right side of the law," Fischer said. "Now the question is where are we going to move it."
He said the public art commission will hold a meeting within a month to consider possible relocation sites, and no removal work will occur until a site is determined. Some sites suggested by the public in recent weeks have included Perryville Battlefield State Park and the Pewee Valley Confederate Cemetery.
In her ruling, McDonald-Burkman shot down plaintiff's arguments that the city didn't have rights to the monument or control the Third Street median in which it sits, and denied claims that the city violated proper historic preservation procedures. The plaintiffs said they feared the monument would never again be displayed or could be damaged in the process.
McDonald-Burkman said she ruled on a narrow set of issues and would leave the "emotional and political aspects" for "others to debate."
"These monuments, as well as other symbols of the Confederacy, are now viewed as a romanticism of the past, pride in 'Southern Heritage,' history to be acknowledged and lessons learned, reminders of slavery or indicative of present racist sentiment," she wrote in the June 16 filing. "The court recognizes, even if it does not agree with, these often-times competing emotional elements."
The city has been embroiled in a debate over race and history since April 29, when Mayor Greg Fischer and U of L President James Ramsey announced that the 1895 monument — at the Belknap campus, across from the Speed Art Museum on Third Street — would be dismantled and moved because it represents a painful chapter in history.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell called the plaintiffs' case "a sham" that was totally devoid of any real evidence.
Fred Wilhite, an official with Kentucky's Sons of Confederate Veterans who was a plaintiff, said he didn't know whether the ruling would be appealed. Recently, attorneys for the plaintiffs sought to be relieved from representing one of them for making a racist social media post after being denied an injunction.
Wilhite said that Ramsey's planned departure, announced Friday, could complicate plans for the removal to be funded by the U of L Foundation.
Fischer said there were "a lot of moving parts at the university right now," including Gov. Matt Bevin's move Friday to reconstitute the Board of Trustees and Ramsey's announcement he would step down. "I don't know if that will come into play on this, but we'll need to take that into consideration if it does," Fischer said.
University spokesman John Karman said that because Ramsey remains president of both the university and the foundation for now, "I don't believe this will have any impact on our ability to move the statue ... I think that plans would go forward."
