The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 (Ala. Code § 41-9-230 through 237, AL Act 2017-354, Senate Bill 60) is an act of law in the U.S. state of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

which requires local governments to obtain state permission before moving or renaming historically significant buildings and monuments that date back 40 years or longer.. The text of the Act is available at http://arc-sos.state.al.us/PAC/SOSACPDF.001/A0012128.PDF The bill originated as response to a 2015 attempt by the City of Birmingham, whose residents are predominately black (71%), to remove the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The law was ultimately unsuccessful in keeping the monument erect, as the monument was taken down by the city in June 2020, during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

. The bill, unsuccessfully introduced in 2016, was co-sponsored by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Representative Mack Butler and Republican Senator

Gerald Allen Gerald Burton Allen (1885–1956) was a British scholar and a Church of England priest and bishop. Life Allen was born into a clerical family, being the eldest son of The Reverend T.K. Allen, sometime Vicar of Weyhill.Who was Who He was edu ...

in March-April 2017, and signed into law by Governor

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey (born October 15, 1944) is an American politician serving as the 54th and incumbent governor of Alabama since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat, Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38t ...

on May 25, 2017. The law created an Alabama Monument Protection Committee, a group of 11 members who will decide whether historic buildings and monuments may be moved or renamed. African-American lawmakers like

Juandalynn Givan Juandalynn Givan is an American lawyer and politician. She serves as a Democratic member of the Alabama House of Representatives, where she represents Jefferson County. At a committee meeting in March 2017, Givan said that African-Americans wer ...

, Napoleon Bracy Jr. and Hank Sanders were opposed to the bill.

Enforcement

In 2017, after

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Mayor

William A. Bell William A. Bell Sr. (born June 1, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 33rd mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, from 2010 to 2017. He had previously held the office on an interim basis in 1999. Prior to that, he had served several term ...

draped a Confederate memorial with plastic, surrounded it with plywood and stated "This country should in no way tolerate the hatred that the KKK, neo-Nazis, fascists and other hate groups spew", Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sued Bell and the City over this violation of the law.

Lawsuit

On January 14, 2019, a circuit judge ruled the law is an unconstitutional violation of the right to free speech, and cannot be enforced. The ruling was put on hold by the

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...

and subsequently upheld the law unanimously. The penalty for violating the law was fixed at a $25,000 fine. The cities of Birmingham and Mobile paid this fine in 2020 rather than keep their confederate memorials.

Proposed amendments

In the 2021 legislative session, a proposed amendment to the Act sponsored by Representative

Mike Holmes Michael James Holmes (born August 3, 1963) is a Canadian builder/contractor, businessman, investor, television host, and philanthropist. In his first television series, ''Holmes on Homes,'' he rescues homeowners from renovations gone wrong. He ...

did not pass.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama Memorial Preservation Act Alabama law Alabama statutes 2017 in Alabama 2017 controversies in the United States 2017 in American law Statutes dealing with Confederate monuments and memorials 2019 in Alabama 2019 controversies in the United States 2019 in American law