The ongoing battle between the Daughters of the Confederacy and Caddo Parish over the removal of a Confederate monument in front of the Parish courthouse may now be over.
According to a press release from Caddo Parish, “The US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana denied a motion by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) to halt the removal of the Confederate monument at the Caddo Parish Courthouse. The ruling was issued Friday morning by US District Court Judge Robert G. James.’
“The Parish is pleased that the Court accepted our arguments that the UDC does not own the land under the monument,” said Donna Frazier, Parish Attorney. “The Parish is prepared for the next phase of litigation,” said Frazier.
According to the press release, the Court decided that the Daughters of the Confederacy could not prove that it owned the land where the monument is located.
“The UDC faces the uphill battle of trying to prove that the words of 1903 minutes are sufficient to establish its ownership of that plot as a matter of law,” writes Judge James in the ruling. “Based on the evidence presented, the Court concludes that UDC has failed to meet that burden, or to show that it is entitled to relief otherwise,” noted Judge James.
