Black Mountain, NC - The Southern Legal Resource Center applauds the Republican Party of Texas for taking the first political step in returning the Confederate plaques to the Texas Supreme Court building. This past weekend, the party adopted the following plank in their 2004 platform:

"Symbols of American Heritage – We call upon governmental entities to protect monuments, national parks, waterways, cemeteries, and all other symbols of our American heritage from being altered, removed, or placed under international control. The Party calls for restoration of the plaques honoring the Confederate Widow’s Pension Fund contribution that were illegally removed from the Texas Supreme Court and other state buildings."

This original lawsuit to prevent the removal of the plaques was filed 4 years ago on behalf of Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander Denne Sweeney, and later on behalf of the Texas Division SCV by the Southern Legal Resource Center. A populist vigil commenced in front of the Supreme Court building that, with a short hiatus, continues to this day. The men, passerby see carrying Confederate flags in front of the Supreme Court building, are protesting the removal of the plaques.

The suit sought to declare unconstitutional, then Governor George W. Bush's removal of the Confederate Memorial Plaques from the foyer of the Texas Supreme Court Building - a building built with Confederate pension money and designated by a constitutional amendment (voted on by the people of Texas) to be a memorial to Texans who served in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America. The two bronze plaques were removed in the dead of night to prevent a temporary restraining order filed by the SLRC from being appealed to the Court of Appeals the following Monday.

Today, the case remains unresolved. In September, 2002, the Texas Division retained Dallas attorney Bill Kuhn to proceed with the lawsuit. Although no longer attorney's of record on this case, the Southern Legal Resource Center has a continuing interest in the litigation we researched, crafted, and commenced. With the recent support of the Texas Republican Party, this issue will once again return to the legal and political forefront, and will hopefully be resolved in favor of the Texas Constitution and the people of Texas.

"Just when you thought the Judges and bureaucrats had finished off the people's lawsuit, the Texas GOP comes riding to the rescue like the cavalry," said H.K. Edgerton, Black Confederate activist, who marched 1600 miles carrying a Confederate flag to protest the removal of the plaques.

The Southern Legal Resource Center is a South Carolina Public Civil Rights Law Firm that advocates on behalf of Confederate-Southern Americans. For more information, please visit us on the web at: http://www.slrc-csa.org or phone at 828-669-5189.