Future of New Orleans Confederate monuments argued in court

By Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

Posted September 28, 2016 5:34 am EST

1 min read

This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date.

Arlene Barnum, of Oklahoma, with a group calling themselves Confederate Veterans Lives Matter, holds a Confederate flag in front of City Hall in New Orleans, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. City Hall became the scene of competing opinions over the removal of prominent Confederate monuments along some of New Orleans' busiest thoroughfares. The City Council set aside time to let the public voice feelings over a proposal to remove four monuments linked to Confederate history. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

NEW ORLEANS – A court is expected to hear arguments on whether New Orleans should be able to remove four Confederate monuments.

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The case will be heard Wednesday by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

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The City Council voted in December 2015 to remove the monuments to Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a statue honouring whites who tried to topple a biracial post-Civil War government in New Orleans.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu urged the monuments be removed after police said a white supremacist who posed with the Confederate battle flag for photos killed nine parishioners inside an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year.

But the decision to remove the monuments has been sharply controversial and led to an immediate court fight.