Black Mountain, NC - The SLRC notes with deep concern the nomination by President Bush, of Al Gonzales to be the next Attorney General of the United States. His lack of Conservative
credentials aside, Gonzales displayed a cavalier disregard of the constitution he was sworn to uphold while he was a justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Back in 2000, while George Bush was Governor of Texas, Gonzales acted as the liaison between the Governor's office, the General Services Commission and his fellow justices on the Texas Supreme Court in illegally and
unconstitutionally removing the dedicated Confederate Memorial Plaques placed in the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to a constitutional amendment voted on by the citizens of Texas.
(Read more....)
The Plaques were removed without public hearing or input as part of a
political deal with Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe.
It was Gonzales who drafted the wording for the illegal replacement plaques. The battle flag plaque with the Robert E. Lee quote was replaced with:
THE COURTS OF TEXAS ARE ENTRUSTED WITH PROVIDING EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW TO ALL PERSONS REGARDLESS OF RACE. CREED OR COLOR.
The "Great Seal Plaque" noting the dedication of the building to Texans who served the Confederacy was replaced with:
BECAUSE THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT WITH MONIES FROM THE CONFEDERATE PENSION FUND, IT WAS, AT THAT TIME, DESIGNATED AS A MEMORIAL TO THE TEXANS WHO SERVED THE CONFEDERACY.
(The Great Seal of the Confederacy does not appear on this plaque).
Confederate heritage groups have charged that the first plaque serves no
constitutionally mandated purpose and the second plaque is an insult to Texans with Confederate ancestry, because it infers that today no such honors to Confederate soldiers would be rendered.
See Texas Plagues Lawsuit for more background and photos of the original plaques.
Gonzales was named in the original 2000 lawsuit filed by the SLRC on behalf of Denne Sweeney of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to restore the original Constitutionally mandated Confederate Memorial plaques.
No man deserves to be the top law enforcement officer of the United States who thinks so little of his oath to uphold the constitution.
There are other legitimate reasons for the Senate to refuse Gonzales
confirmation, the SLRC only wishes to present those facts for public
consideration that are within its own purview.
The SLRC is a non profit South Carolina corporation that advocates on behalf of Confederate Southern Americans and the civil & constitutional rights of all Americans.
For additional information, contact:
Roger McCredie
Southern Legal Resource Center
(828) 669-5189
