JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Although the monument dedicated to the women of the Confederacy in Jacksonville’s Springfield Park was removed Wednesday, the battle over Confederate monuments in Florida is far from over.
A bill filed in Tallahassee last month would prohibit local governments from permanently removing historic monuments and memorials on public property. It would open up local officials who remove monuments to civil penalties and lawsuits, allowing plaintiffs to collect three times what it would cost to return or replace a monument that had been taken down, as well as possible punitive damages.
READ: Text of House Bill 395 (Protection of Historical Monuments and Memorials)
Officials who vote to remove a monument could be subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 or the cost to remove and replace a monument, whichever is higher.
Rep. Dean Black of Northeast Florida, a Republican, is one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
MORE: Legal questions remain following removal of Confederate monument from Springfield Park
“Well, for a number of years now, a woke canceled culture mob has descended upon America, and right here in Florida to even in our own city, and begun to tear down historic monuments and memorials that are works of art and parts of our culture. And we filed this bill because we want to protect history,” Black said.
But to some who witnessed the statues coming down on Wednesday, the removal itself was a piece of history to celebrate.
The bill would allow for the governor to remove elected officials who take down monuments.
“It’s essentially saying, if you remove these monuments, we’re going to remove you,” said Jasmine Jenkins, a local attorney who analyzed the proposed legislation. “I think that it is, there are parts in it that are still extremely vague. So I think that the bill in itself, we’re going to end up having these unintended consequences that need to get flushed out before it actually gets passed.”
Rep. Black said changes to the bill are underway, but the basics will remain intact.
The bill wouldn’t force monuments that have already come down to go back up, but Rep. Black said it would withhold some state funding for local governments that have taken down monuments within the past few years, which includes the Confederate statues removed Wednesday.
“The bill says that if you’ve taken down historic memorials, you really should put those back up. And if you don’t, you’re not going to qualify for arts and culture funding going forward,” Black said.
State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, pushed back against the bill.
“Now he wants to keep them up. And then not only that he wants to go further and do what the Republican legislature continually does in our state, which is overreach, and remove duly elected individuals who the people elected to represent them,” Nixon said. “Why are we doing this?”
That bill is currently in committee.
A different bill filed earlier this year would also have prohibited certain actions concerning monuments and provided standing to bring civil actions but it died in committee in May.