View source for Caddo Parish Confederate Monument

==Liberals target Confederate monuments==

Similarly, before he left office, [[liberal]] [[Mayor]] [[Mitch Landrieu]] of [[New Orleans]] removed four major Confederate monuments from the Crescent City in 2017 and won the JFK "Profile in Courage Award" in 2018 presented by the family of [[U.S. President]] [[John F. Kennedy]]. Landrieu targeted statues of [[Jefferson Davis]], who was first interred in New Orleans and then removed to [[Richmond]], [[Virginia]], and Generals [[Robert E. Lee]] and Pierre G. T. Beauregard, namesake of Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. Landrieu also removed a monument dedicated to opponents of [[Reconstruction]]. Landrieu's two terms as mayor ended on May 7, 2018. He published a book, ''In the Shadow of the Statues,'' which recounts his attack on Confederate heritage. He notes that he had difficulty finding a contractor to remove the statues because of the possibility of negative publicity.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/03/27/mitch-landrieu-mayor-of-new-orleans-is-awarded-kennedy-profile-in-courage-award/?utm_term=.36c47de0e42b|title=Mitch Landrieu, mayor of New Orleans, is awarded the Kennedy file in Courage Award|date=March 27, 2018|author=Mike DeBonis|publisher=''[[The Washington Post]]''|accessdate=March 29, 2018}}</ref> Landrieu was even mentioned as a potential 2020 [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee to oppose [[Donald Trump]], but the former mayor did not enter the race for his party's nomination.

On October 19, 2017, the Caddo Parish Commission, after hearing public input, voted 7-5 to remove the monument from the downtown location. The United Daughters of the Confederacy established the monument and claims ownership of the ground on which it sets. The UDC filed suit in a bid to halt the removal. Presiding Judge Robert G. James, a [[liberal]] appointee of [[Bill Clinton]], rejected the UDC's attempt to procure a preliminary injunction barring the removal of the monument. James wrote that the UDC faces an "uphill battle" in trying to prove that it owns the land on which the monument sets. James said that the UDC "failed to meet that burden or to show that it is entitled to relief otherwise. Judge James first set the court date for April 30, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2018/02/02/trial-date-set-caddo-confederate-monument-case/300833002/|title=UDC, Caddo Parish trial date set over Confederate monument|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=February 2, 2018|author=Nick Wooten|accessdate=March 29, 2018}}</ref>

The United Daughters of the Confederacy then sought depositions from Steven Jackson, Lyndon Johnson, Matthew Linn, and Stormy Gage Watts, four of the seven liberal commissioners who voted for removal of the monument. Judge James quickly denied the request. He said that the reasons Jackson, Johnson, Linn, and Watts voted for removal are irrelevant to the case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/udc-loses-latest-legal-fight-over-confederate-monument/|title=UDC Loses latest Legal Fight over Confederate Monument|publisher=KEEL (AM) [[radio]]|location=[[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]|date=March 28, 2018|author=Erin McCarty|accessdate=March 29, 2018}}</ref>