The legal community in Caddo Parish will likely take notice of the legal fight going on in South Louisiana. A man in East Feliciana Parish says he can not get a fair trial at a courthouse where a Confederate monument is displayed.

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Niles Haymer represents Ronnie Anderson and he has filed a motion to get Anderson's case moved out of Clinton, Louisiana where a Confederate monument stands outside the East Feliciana Parish Courthouse.

This same tactic was tried last month, but it was thrown out because it was not timely filed. But now, the D.A. has filed a new weapons charge against Andersion, so his attorney is bringing the monument fight back to the forefront.

The statue in front of the East Feliciana Courthouse is 30 feet tall and features a soldier on a pedestal.

In the motion, Haymer writes: "Defendant contends that this Confederate Monument is not just memorializing the Confederacy but revering the Confederacy and what it stood for, right in front of the very place that African Americans go to seek fairness and impartiality in the court system."

In an article in The State.com, the D.A.confirmed that he has filed the new felony charge. Asked to comment on Haymer's new motion, he said he has commented in the past and his position hasn't changed. Last month, he said it is "ridiculous" to think a statue would affect the fairness of Anderson's trial. He said he doesn't have an opinion on the statue, but regardless of whether it's there the people inside strive for colorblind justice.

The Caddo Parish Courthouse also has a Confederate monument and the Southern Poverty Law center says 10 other courthouses in the state also have similar monuments.

But the Caddo Commission has voted to remove the monument from courthouse grounds, but no action has been taken since the Daughters of the Confederacy are continuing a legal battle over this matter.

 

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