Court rejects bid to save Louisiana Confederate monument

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court says a judge was right when he cleared the way to remove a Confederate monument at a north Louisiana courthouse. A local official applauds the decision but says the case probably isn't over.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again rejected claims Monday from the United Daughters of the Confederacy's Shreveport chapter.

Caddo Parish Commissioner Steven Jackson was in the majority on the commission's 7-to-5 removal vote in 2017. He says the commission respects the group's right to continue its appeals.

A federal judge in Monroe threw out the lawsuit last year.

A three-judge panel upheld that opinion, calling it "exhaustive and well-reasoned." On Monday, the judges declined to reconsider.

The chapter's attorney did not immediately respond to phoned and emailed requests for comment.