FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
February 15, 2019
Steve Marshall
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Supreme Court Grants Attorney General Steve Marshall’s
Request to Stay Jefferson County Circuit Court Ruling Against Alabama
Memorial Preservation Act
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Friday that the Alabama
Supreme Court has granted the State of Alabama’s motion to stay a recent Jefferson County
Circuit Court judgment that declared the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 to be
unconstitutional.
“I am pleased that the Alabama Supreme Court has granted the State’s motion to stay the
Circuit Court’s ruling,” said Attorney General Marshall. “We think that U.S. Supreme Court
precedent clearly demonstrates that the Circuit Court erred in striking down the Alabama
Memorial Preservation Act. Thus, we asked the Alabama Supreme Court to preserve the status
quo regarding the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park until the Court
rules on our appeal.
“The Supreme Court’s stay allows the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act to remain in effect
until the Supreme Court resolves this appeal over the Act’s constitutionality. We continue to
hold that the Circuit Court erred when it ruled that the U.S. Constitution grants cities free
speech rights that they can enforce against the State. For more than a century, the U.S. Supreme
Court has held just the opposite, recognizing that ‘a political subdivision, created by the state
for the better ordering of government, has no privileges or immunities under the federal
constitution which it may invoke in opposition to the will of its creator.’ We look forward to
presenting these arguments to the Alabama Supreme Court.”
A copy of the Alabama Supreme Court’s stay
–30–
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov
