Florida Bill Aims to Punish Cities for Removing Confederate Monuments

A proposed bill in the Florida House of Representatives would punish cities for removing historical monuments and memorials, even if the removal happened five years ago.

HB-395 was filed by Republican Rep. Dean Black of Jacksonville on Thursday, over three years after the city’s controversial removal of a Confederate statue from a public park.

If passed, the bill would prohibit local governments from removing existing monuments and memorials. Any official involved in removing or damaging the fixtures will be fined $5,000 or the cost of the removal and replacement of the monument, whichever is higher. {snip}

Those officials could be removed and replaced themselves, according to the bill.

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The bill does not directly name the Confederacy, but defines a military memorial as “including any armed conflict since settlers from other countries came to what is now the United States.”

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The bill would also require a statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, which was formerly housed in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol, to be moved and displayed on the state’s dime.

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