BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The fate of a Confederate monument in downtown Birmingham won’t be decided for months.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo has scheduled a hearing for April 13 on a state lawsuit challenging the city’s decision to shroud the stone obelisk in plywood.
The judge’s decision comes after the state attorney general’s office and the city filed a document agreeing to certain facts about the case. That includes the history of the 113-year-old memorial and its location in a downtown park.
The city built a plywood structure to hide inscriptions on the base of the monument amid national protests over Confederate memorials. The state filed suit claiming the move violates a new state law that bars the removal or alteration of historic monuments.
The plywood structure can remain until the hearing.