NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The court battle over four New Orleans monuments honoring Civil War era figures will be heard by a federal appeals court on Sept. 28. The 5th U.S. Circuit court recently set the date in a case that pits the city against some preservationists and supporters of the monuments.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu urged removal after police said a white supremacist killed nine parishioners inside the African-American Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June of last year. The City Council voted for removal in December, leading to the court fight.
Three statues honor Confederate commanders Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. A fourth monument, an obelisk, honors whites who sought to topple a biracial post-Civil War government in New Orleans.
