More News From Memphis
Because I lived just south of Memphis for years, the issue of the Confederate monuments there has been of personal importance to me. The city council keeps whittling away at Southern heritage which, in my opinion, is extremely dangerous. Here is an article about the latest news involving the three Confederate monuments that were recently removed.
JUDGE SETS DATES IN MEMPHIS FOR RESOLUTION ON STATUES
A judge says a Tennessee nonprofit must preserve and cannot sell statues of three Confederate-era leaders secreted out of Memphis parks in December.
Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle barred Memphis Greenspace Inc. on Monday from moving the statues of three figures – Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Capt. J. Harvey Mathes and President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis – pending a hearing before the Tennessee Historical Commission within 60 days.
The commission will decide whether Memphis violated state law when it “sold” the parks and statues to Greenspace for $2,000 on Dec. 20. By making the parks private property, city officials have said it allowed the removal of the statues.
That was on Monday.
On Wednesday Judge Lyle ordered the City of Memphis and the Sons of Confederate Veterans were ordered to try mediation to resolve a dispute over the recent removal of the city’s Confederate statues.
Judge Lyle ordered the two sides to participate in mediation by March 16.
The City and the Sons of Confederate Veterans agreed to participate in mediation last year before the statues were removed. Mayor Jim Strickland decided to instead move forward with selling the parks after mediation was postponed into the new year.
The two parties have until Feb. 9 to choose a mediator or to leave the decision up to the judge, according to the order.
The parties previously selected former Tennessee Supreme Court justices Janice Holder and William “Mickey” Barker.
Memphis City Attorney Bruce McMullen said in a prepared statement Tuesday: “…it should be noted that the city no longer owns these statues; they are the property of Memphis Green-space.”
Judge Lyle also denied a request by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to inspect the statues for possible damage.
(Courtesy of the Jeff Davis Legion, Official Publication of the Mississippi Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, February 2018 ed.)
