A day after a three-judge appeals court panel in New Orleans issued a ruling that the city of New Orleans could remove three Confederate monuments, the same court hears arguments today over a Confederate emblem on the state flag of Mississippi.
An African-American lawyer contends the emblem on the flag is "state sanctioned hate speech."
Attorney Carlos Moore claims that in a state that is 38% percent black, the flag sends an unconstitutional message that black residents, including his young daughter, are second-class citizens.
The flag has been used since 1894.
Governor Phil Bryant has argued that any change in the state flag should be up to voters and not the courts.
A lawsuit filed by Moore was dismissed last September by a judge who ruled that Moore failed to show the emblem caused any identifiable legal injury.