Lawmaker seeks constitutional protection for Confederate monuments

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A state representative from Eunice wants Louisiana voters to decide whether cities like New Orleans can remove monuments, including those built to honor Confederate figures. State Rep. Phillip DeVillier, the Republican who proposed the legislation, will face an uphill battle trying to get two-thirds of the House and Senate to agree to place the amendment on the ballot on Oct. 14.

DeVillier's proposed amendment is extremely broad, covering not only memorials or monuments put up to honor major U.S. conflicts, but also "American presidents, founding citizens, those persons who rendered verified assistance in the formation of the Constitution" and "those citizens who rendered aid and assistance and support in the wars described in this section."

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The amendment would remove local control over monuments, asking voters, "do you support an amendment to prohibit Louisiana public entities from destroying, dismantling, removing, moving, storing, eliminating or hiding various monuments memorials and artifacts?"

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Because two-thirds of the House and Senate are required to pass constitutional amendments, DeVillier would have a difficult time getting such legislation approved. Similar efforts died in committee last year before even making it to a full vote, so it's not known how much support there would be if it made it to the floor.

But if the Legislature did approve a constitutional amendment for ratification by voters, the vote could be much closer. In a survey LSU conducted a year ago, just 20 percent of people said they favored removing Confederate monuments from public view.

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