Confederate monument preservation bill voted down by Georgia House

ATLANTA — The Georgia House narrowly defeated a bill Tuesday that sought to protect Confederate monuments, a proposal that opponents said glorified the South’s defense of slavery in the Civil War.

The legislation would have allowed anyone to sue over the removal or damage of monuments, and groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans would have been able to continue publicly displaying monuments after local governments voted to relocate them.

Several Georgia cities have taken down Confederate monuments in recent years, often in response to repeated vandalism. Those monuments are then moved or put in storage.