New Florida Bill Proposes Punishment for Removal of Confederate Monuments

The Florida House of Representatives is considering a new bill that seeks to punish cities for the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials even if the events occurred years ago.

Republican Rep. Dean Black of Jacksonville was the one who filed the proposal known as HB-395 on Thursday. The development comes three years after the city's controversial removal of a Confederate statue from a public park.

Punishment for Removal of Confederate Monuments

If the bill is passed, it would prohibit local governments from removing existing monuments and memorials. If any official is found to have been involved in the removal or damage of the fixtures, they would be fined $5,000 or the entire cost of the removal and replacement of the monument itself, whichever is higher.

Additionally, the people involved could be liable for triple the amount required to restore the fixture and they could be subject to unspecified "punitive damages." Under the proposed bill, those officials could also be removed and replaced from their respective positions, as per WFLA News.

The proposed measure would apply retroactively to any monuments or memorials that have been removed, damaged, or destroyed on or after Jan. 1, 2017. This timeline comes as residents of many southern cities pushed for the removal of monuments that honored Confederate soldiers after white supremacists gathered for the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.

While the bill does not directly name the Confederacy, it defines a military memorial as "including any armed conflict since settlers from other countries came to what is now known as the United States.

Since 2016, several Florida cities have removed monuments since 2016, including Jacksonville and Gainesville. The latter's "Old Joe," a statue that depicts a Confederate soldier, was removed to a cemetery in response to the Charlottesville rally.

The bill would also give Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the power to remove elected leaders from local office from the time that the bill takes effect. The stipulation of the bill suggests that the burden of repayment of such removals would fall on local officials and not taxpayers, according to Florida Politics.

Implementing the Punishments Retroactively

The measure would allow that state to preempt local authority over monument removal unless it was part of a construction project. In that particular case, the structure would be allowed to be moved for up to a year.

After that time, the edifice will have to be placed back at the original location or, if not possible, as close as possible to the original location in a prominent place for easy and accessible public viewing as determined by the Florida Historical Commission. In cases involving a military monument or memorial, it would be determined by the executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The bill also allows the addition of a "contextual plaque or marker" near a monument or memorial. However, such a decision would require the approval of the Department of Veterans Affairs, State Historic Preservation Officer, and the Florida Historical Commission.

It also mandates the relocation and display of a statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, which was previously housed in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, using state funds, said Energy Portal.