Governor of Mississippi Faces Lawsuit Over the State's Flag with Confederate Battle Emblem

An attorney filed a lawsuit against the Governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, seeking to remove the last state flag of the nation, which contains the Confederate battle emblem. The lawsuit was filed on Monday, stating that the flag violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment.

The Grenada, Mississippi-based attorney, Carlos Moore continued in his lawsuit that the flag "incite violence similar to the shooting in South Carolina. He is asking it to remove and to declare the flag unconstitutional, according to Clarion-Ledger. Mississippi is the only state that incorporates the Confederate emblem flag into its state flag.

The lawsuit also stated that the plaintiff fears for his safety and the safety of other African-Americans because of the state sanctioned hate speech communicated through the said flag, Miami Herald reported. Bryant already released a proclamation, calling the month of April as Confederate Heritage Month. He also added that voters will decide whether to continue to use the flag since 1894.

Mississippians voted in 2001 to keep the current state flag via a statewide referendum, News Channel3 reported. Governor Bryant called the filed lawsuit a "frivolous attempt to use the federal court system to usurp the will of the people.

The lawsuit was filed after Mississippi legislators dismissed bills seeking to remove the Confederate emblem from the flag. Displaying of Confederate symbols has been long debated since the slayings of black worshippers at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in June. 

According to Matt Steffey, a Constitutional law expert said, Moore's lawsuit has some issues. He explained, "The 14th Amendment is not usually read to be concerned with symbolic matters, and the flag is by definition a symbol."

While Moore is determined to pursue the lawsuit, several hundred people also gather at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson for a rally to remove the Confederate battle emblem on Thursday, a month after flag supporters gathered there for their own event.

Tags

Phil Bryant, Carlos Moore, Flag Lawsuit, Confederate-Themed Flag, Mississippi State Flag

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