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Confederate group fights to wave the battle flag in Georgia parade

The Sons of Confederate Veterans want the 11th Circuit to overturn a lower court’s decision allowing a city to ban the Confederate flag from a veterans parade.

(CN) — A legal battle over the exclusion of the Confederate flag in a Georgia parade raged on Friday in the 11th Circuit.

An attorney for two members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans asked a three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court to reverse a lower court decision allowing the city of Alpharetta’s ban of the Confederate battle flag in the annual Old Soldiers Day parade.

Richard Leake and Michael Dean, members of the Roswell Mills Camp #1547 chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, sued James Drinkard, an assistant city administrator, in 2019 after he told the group they cannot display the Confederate battle flag while participating in the parade.

The August parade — a tradition in the city for about 70 years that began by honoring Civil War veterans — previously allowed the Confederate flag until 2018. But after the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing a woman, city officials instituted the ban.

When the Sons of Confederate Veterans applied for a parade permit in July 2019, the assistant city administrator sent a letter to the organization outlying the new rules.

“The defined purpose of the Old Soldiers Day Parade is to unite our community for the purpose of celebrating American war veterans and recognizing their service to our nation,” Drinkard, the assistant city administrator, wrote. “It also cannot be ignored that the Confederate battle flag has become a divisive symbol that a large portion of our citizens see as symbolizing oppression and slavery rather than the service of the men and women who fought for what they considered, for a variety of reasons, to be their nation.”

Drinkard went on to invite the Confederate heritage group to participate in the parade — sans battle flag.

Alpharetta held the 2019 parade, and the Confederate heritage group chose not to attend due to the flag controversy. News outlets reported some members stood along the parade route with Confederate flags.

Later that year, the Alpharetta City Council voted to stop funding the parade.

“It’s just time for us to get out this parade business,” the mayor said during the meeting, according to ABC News.

Last year, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled the city was within its right to ban the flag from the parade. The government speech doctrine allows government entities to make content-based choices without being subject to violations of the First Amendment.

On Friday, the federal appeals court judges seemed to side with the lower court.

Kyle King, attorney for the Sons of Confederate Veterans members, called the city’s actions “government oppression.”

Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor immediately interrupted: “Well, it’s their parade isn’t it?”

“No, your honor, it’s not,” answered King, adding the city of Alpharetta is a co-host of the parade along with the local American Legion post, he said.  

However, the judges continuously harped on the $20,000 spent by the city to hold the parade and frequently questioned King’s interpretation of the law.

“What is your best evidence that the city wasn’t a sponsor of the parade?” Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, asked. “Because when I look at this, you have an application that has the city’s logo and the American Legion’s logo. The application is obtained by going to the city’s website. … The mayor and council are the ones who approve your participation or not.”

He added in exasperation, “I mean, it looks like this is totally controlled and funded by the city.”

King argued that the parade was an American Legion event — despite the city overwhelmingly funding it — and cited Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston. That Supreme Court case decided the government cannot compel private organizations to include groups from parades on public property.

Pryor was not convinced.

“Here’s the deal — if your clients want to have a parade … they can apply for a parade and have their own parade,” Pryor said. “But governments can hold parades, too. Governments have been holding parades since the Roman empire, particularly military-related parades. And they can communicate whatever message they want to communicate because it’s their parade.”

“We’re talking about two different things,” he added.

Michael Stacy, representing the assistant city administrator, argued flying the Confederate battle flag during the parade was antithesis to the mission of the event.

“The battle flag is a direct and poignant symbol of insurrection against the United States of America and flying it on a pole is an act of significance,” Stacy said. “A message that was inconsistent with what Alpharetta sought to convey [with the parade].”  

U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger, a George H.W. Bush appointee visiting from Florida, noted the city has allowed the Confederate flag for the majority of the parade’s 70-year history.

“The message may have evolved over time and now the message is not one that reflects local attitudes and local control,” said Stacy of the Atlanta-based firm Bovis Kyle.

“The overall message here is simply one of celebrate American veterans, celebrate the men and women, but don’t celebrate the act of insurrection,” he added. “Which is why the Sons of Confederate Veterans were allowed to participate other than flying the battle flag on a pole.”

Pryor and Schlesinger were joined on the panel by U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Donald Trump appointee.

 The judges did not indicate when they will reach a decision in the case.

Follow Alex Pickett on Twitter.

Follow @alexbpickett
Categories / Appeals, Civil Rights, Regional

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