JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge has granted a renewed motion by Mayor Lenny Curry and Governor Ron DeSantis to dismiss a lawsuit that was seeking to end taxpayer funding of Confederate tributes.
Earl Johnson Jr. filed the initial complaint. He previously told First Coast News that he doesn't want tax dollars going towards any entity named after the Confederacy.
According to Johnson's initial lawsuit, there are 47 different named tributes to the Confederacy in the middle district of Florida, and that includes the names of five counties. Johnson filed the lawsuit saying that the use of tax dollars for Confederate monuments is unconstitutional according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In October of last year, defendants Gov. DeSantis and Mayor Lenny Curry filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. It was struck down by a judge one day later.
However, an amended complaint to dismiss was granted last month on the basis that Johnson failed to show that "he has sustained or is in immediate danger of sustaining a direct injury associated with Confederate tributes on public land."
Johnson Jr was not asking for any money in his lawsuit, just a declaratory judgement and action by Curry and DeSantis.
In 2022, Curry set aside $500,000 in the city’s budget to remove Confederate monuments and markers on city property, but council has still not approved any proposal to use the funds for monuments across the city.