Judge dismisses suit over Mississippi city flying state flag
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A federal judge is dismissing a lawsuit that sought to block a Mississippi Gulf Coast city from flying the state flag that features the Confederate battle emblem.
U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. ruled Tuesday that the plaintiffs suing Ocean Springs didn’t have standing to bring the lawsuit.
Guirola says the plaintiffs haven’t proved that they suffered unequal treatment by the government or that they were harmed by a discriminatory housing practice.
Ocean Springs officials had asked that the case be dismissed.
The city didn’t fly the flag at government buildings for several years under a previous mayor. The flag went back up after a new mayor and some new aldermen took office last July, prompting protests.
A number of local governments elsewhere in Mississippi have stopped flying the flag.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Leave a Reply