TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 17, 2020

The Sons of Confederate Veterans has sued the state and the Tennessee Capitol Commission over a July vote to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Capitol’s second floor, the Daily Memphian reports. Doug Jones, a Nashville attorney representing the group, confirmed today that a suit was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court. The group’s main legal argument is that the commission does not have authority over the second floor of the State Capitol and, therefore, cannot vote to remove the bust. Instead, they argue, the legislature must make the decision since it passed a resolution in 1973 to place the bust in the Capitol. The commission voted 9-2 in early July to relocate the bust to the State Museum after Gov. Bill Lee requested it be moved.