IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF BIBB COUNTY

STATE OF GEORGIA

CIVIL ACTION NO.__________

VS

CITY OF MACON-BIBB COUNTY, MAYOR ROBERT REICHERT,

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

COME the Plaintiffs, MARTIN N. BELL and the LT. GEN. JAMES LONGSTREET CHAPTER of
the MILITARY ORDER OF THE STARS AND BARS GEORGIA SOCIETY INC., (“Plaintiffs”), by and
through the undersigned attorney, and hereby propound upon the City of Macon-Bibb County
Commissioners of Bibb County, Georgia (collectively “Defendants Plaintiff’s Complaint for
Damages and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”), showing to this Honorable Court the following:

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Plaintiffs are suing Defendants for attempting to remove and or removing the monuments

to Bibb County soldiers and citizens of the State of Georgia who served the State of Georgia

during the war of 1861-65 ( hereinafter “ the Monuments”) in violation of O.C.G.A. § 50-3-

1(b)(4).

2. The first such monument, the “Soldier Monument” stands on a small triangle of land at

the intersection of Cotton Avenue and Second Street; the second such monument, “Women’s

Monument”, stands on the land island on Popular St. near city hall in downtown Macon.

3. Defendants did on the 21st of July, 2020, vote to “move” the Monuments to “somewhere”

in Whittle Park, outside of the downtown area.

designed for political purposes to placate the mob mentalities current in American society and is

contrary to the very plans for improvement of the said triangle of land which has been proposed

and/or adopted by Defendants before the current hysterias began during recent months.

II. PARTIES

5. Plaintiff Bell is a resident of Bibb County; he is the CEO/Commander of Plaintiff

“Military Order of the Stars and Bars, Georgia Society Inc.”, a Georgia non-profit corporation

under the laws of the State of Georgia whose purpose is the preservation of monuments and

memories of the men and women of Georgia who served this State during the war of 1861-65.

Plaintiff Bell is also the Commander of Plaintiff LT. GEN. JAMES LONGSTREET CHAPTER of the

MILITARY ORDER OF THE STARS AND BARS GEORGIA SOCIETY INC..

6. Plaintiffs have standing to bring this Complaint, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(b)(5) and

O.C.G.A. § 23-3-2, 23-4-20.

7. The Defendant consolidated government of the County of Bibb and the City of Macon,

Georgia, hereinafter “Macon”, is a political subdivision of the State of Georgia.

8. Defendant Robert Reichert, hereinafter “Defendant Mayor”, is the Mayor of Defendant

Macon and is charged with the execution of the edicts and rules of Defendant Macon and is

legally bound to respect and obey the laws of the State of Georgia insofar as they are applicable

to Macon.

9. Defendants Al Tillman, Larry Schlesinger, Elaine Lucas, Bert Bivins III, and Virgil

Watkins Jr., hereinafter “Defendant Commissioners” are those Commissioners of Macon who

voted to move the Monuments from downtown Macon and who are obliged to respect at all

times the laws of the State of Georgia insofar as they are applicable to Macon.

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 III. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

10. This Court enjoys subject matter jurisdiction for the instant civil action pursuant to

Section I, Article IV, of the Georgia Constitution and O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(b)(5).

11. This Court enjoys personal jurisdiction over Defendants because the City of Macon-Bibb,

Georgia, is a municipality existing by the law of the State of Georgia, and because Bibb County

is a county existing by said laws.

12. Venue is proper with this Court because the original injuries occurred in Macon-Bibb, the

case at bar seeks injunctive relief, and one or more Defendants are residents of Macon and/or

Bibb County. See O.C.G.A. § 9-10-30.

IV. STATEMENT OF FACTS

13. The “Soldier Monument” has been located in downtown Macon since 1879. Said

monument is a memorial to the hundreds of Bibb Countians who fought on behalf of their

homes, their families, the Confederate States of America, and the State of Georgia.

14. At considerable expense and from funds collected by private subscriptions, the people

of Bibb County and their friends and supporters, and with permission of the City of Macon

erected the Soldier Monument in 1879. It was later moved (1956) to its present location of honor

at the intersection of Cotton Avenue and Second Street. The “Women’s Monument” was set in

June of 1911 on the corner of Poplar St. and near the intersection of First Street.

15. Georgia’s participation in the war of 1861-1865 (known variously as The War for

Southern Independence, The War Between the States, and the American Civil War, said conflict

hereinafter named “the War”) was lawfully carried out pursuant to the General Assembly’s

passage of the Ordinance of Secession on January 19, 1861. The War was fought by the states of

the Confederacy in an attempt to make good their secession from the United States of America.

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 16. During the War men of Bibb County volunteered and were subject to conscription in

accord with laws adopted by the Confederate States of America’s government which were

ratified and approved by the Georgia General Assembly.

17. Some black and mixed-race Bibb Countians fought for Georgia and Bibb County in the

two battles that took place in Bibb County during the War, (the two battles of Dunlap Farm at

Ocmulgee Mounds). Neither of the Monuments discriminate by race among those its establishers

sought to honor.

18. By allowing the Monuments to be erected on their original location and then on their

present location, the City of Macon entered into a binding easement with the parties who erected

them and their posterity, to wit, that creature of law known as “ a license coupled with an

interest”.

19. In the years following the erection of the Monuments, Plaintiffs and various predecessors

have held ceremonies at the Monuments and have cared for and improved their settings. All

such ceremonies and improvements have been carried out with the permission of the City of

Macon.

20. Plaintiff Martin Bell personally paid $498.00 to repair lighting for the “Soldier

Monument” in April of 2018. The City of Macon installed the lights but has allowed them to be

disconnected and the display of the Monument thereby downgraded.

21. In addition to the foregoing, Defendants have recently let an unruly mob of unidentified

“protestors” obscure and denigrate the Monuments in violation of O.C.G.A. 50-3-1 (b)(2)-(4).

22. Plaintiffs and all those thousands of people who sympathize with them and revere the

maintenance of all American historical markers have suffered injury to their rights and dignity.

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 V. CAUSES OF ACTION

COUNT I
STATUTORY VIOLATION OF O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(B)(4)

23. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if each is fully set forth herein all prior paragraphs

of this Complaint.

24. Defendants, without authority, unlawfully allowed the obscuring of the Monuments.

More specifically, Defendant Mayor allowed or directed the erection of plywood walls around

the Soldier Monument and thereafter conspired with others to get “protestors” to obtain a

“permit” from Macon to have such barrier continued and to paint insulting graffiti thereon and to

issue an alleged “Executive Order” allowing, if not encouraging such paintings of the barrier.

Defendant Mayor countersigned a permit which called the paintings “art”. Included in such “art”

was the crudely spray-painted insult: Losers don’t get Trophies.

25. The Monuments constitute monuments, markers, and memorials that honor the women

of Bibb County and the men of Bibb County and the State of Georgia who served the State of

Georgia and/or the Confederate States of America during the War.

26. The Monuments are not fully owned by Defendants.

27. The Monuments co-owners are the several and individual citizens of Bibb County,

Georgia who were not given proper legal notice, consulted, or given any opportunity to decide

the issues involved by referendum..

28. Plaintiffs and the people of Bibb County will suffered irreparable injury or damages as a

result of Defendants’ removing the Monuments to a place of lesser honor, if, indeed, Defendants

ever re-erect them anywhere.

29. O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(b)(4) states in pertinent part:

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 It shall be unlawful for any person * * * or other entity acting without authority to
* * * remove, conceal, or obscure any privately owned monument, plaque,
marker, or memorial which is dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military
service of any past * * * military personnel of * * * the Confederate States of
America[.] Any person or entity who suffers injury or damages as a result of a
violation of this paragraph may bring an action individually or in a representative
capacity against the person or persons committing such violations to seek
injunctive relief and to recover general and exemplary damages sustained as a
result of such person’s or persons’ unlawful actions.

30. Defendants are liable to Plaintiffs for general damages, including treble the amount of the

full cost of repair or replacement of the removed Monuments and their lighting accessories; for

exemplary damages for the unauthorized removal of the monuments in a manner contrary to law,

including punitive damages for the purpose of deterring Defendants and similarly situated state

actors from engaging in such conduct in the future; and for attorneys’ fees and court costs

expending by Plaintiffs in this proceeding, all due to Defendants having injured Plaintiffs by

violating O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(b)(4), and all in amounts to be proven with greater specificity at

trial.

31. The Court can and should award Plaintiff injunctive relief by ordering Defendants to

leave the Monuments and the triangle of land and other lands upon which they set alone except

to beautify such places or allow Plaintiffs to do so, to protect them from mobs and vandals, and

prohibit the removal, concealment, or obstruction of the Monuments by mobs in perpetuity.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court will:

A. Award Plaintiff a money judgment against Defendants for general damages, exemplary

damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs, all in amounts to be determined by the

factfinder; and

B. Award Plaintiffs injunctive relief against Defendants, whereby Defendants are ordered to

permit Plaintiffs to beautify the said triangle of land and the land immediately around the

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 Women’s Monument, replace and repair such parts of the Monuments as may be in

disrepair or that have been defaced by vandals, and restore the lighting of the “Soldier

Monument” at Defendants’ expense.

COUNT II
FIRST AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS
42 U.S.C. § 1983

32. Plaintiff incorporates by reference as if each is fully set forth herein all prior paragraphs

of this Complaint.

33. Plaintiffs are guaranteed the right to free speech and equal protection before the laws

pursuant to the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

34. Defendants violated Plaintiffs’ right to free speech by voting to prohibit Plaintiffs from

preserving their and the people of Bibb County’s heritage by tending to the Monuments in their

present places of honor. Said violation constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint- and/or content-

based discrimination.

35. Defendants acted under the color of state law when Defendants prohibited Plaintiffs from

maintaining the people of Bibb County’s Monuments at their current places of honor.

36. Defendants do not enjoy qualified immunity insofar as Defendants knowingly violated

clearly established law when Defendants engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint- and/or content-

based discrimination and have denied Defendants the Equal Protections to which they are

entitled..

37. Due directly and proximately to Defendants having violated Plaintiffs’ right to free

speech and equal protection, Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer damages.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court will:

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A. Award Plaintiff a money judgment against Defendants for general and punitive damages,

in amounts to be determined by the factfinder;

B. Award Plaintiff all attorneys’ fees Plaintiff incurs in relation to the instant civil action

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b); and

C. Award Plaintiffs injunctive relief against Defendants, whereby Defendants are ordered to

permit Plaintiffs to tend the Monuments at their present location and to beautify the

triangle of land and other lands upon which they stand.

COUNT III
BREACH OF CONTRACT AND DETRIMENTAL RELIANCE

38. Plaintiff Martin Bell incorporates by reference as if each is fully set forth herein all prior

paragraphs of this Complaint.

39. Plaintiff Bell made an agreement with Defendants to bear part of the expense of restoring

the lighting of the Soldier Monument. In fulfillment of his obligations Plaintiff Bell paid

$498.60 to Meyer Electric Supply. Plaintiff Bell has fulfilled all his contractual

obligations to Macon. The new lights were installed and turned on by April 13, 2018.

40. Macon has failed to fulfill its contractual obligations to Plaintiff, to wit: maintaining the

lighting of the Monument.

41. Plaintiff has sustained damages as a result of Macon’s failure to fulfill Macon’s

contractual obligations, in amounts to be proven at trial.

42. During the negotiating process and following the formation of the contract, Plaintiff

reasonably and to his detriment relied in good faith upon Macon’s representations that

Macon would abide by the terms of the parties’ agreement, and Plaintiff expended labor

and funds in the course of such reliance.

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43. As a result of his detrimental reliance in good faith upon Macon’s representations during

the negotiating process and after the contract formation, Plaintiff has been damaged in

such amounts as will be proven at time of trial.

44. Because Defendants have acted in bad faith, and have caused Plaintiff unnecessary

trouble and expense, Plaintiff is entitled to recover from Defendants expenses of

litigation, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, as part of the damages, pursuant to

O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11.

45.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court will:

A. Award Plaintiff a money judgment against Defendants for breach of contract and

detrimental reliance, in amounts to be determined by the factfinder; and

B. Award Plaintiff all attorneys’ fees and expenses of litigation Plaintiff incurs in

relation to the instant civil action pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11.

COUNT IV

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

46. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if each is fully set forth herein all prior paragraphs

of this Complaint.

47. Plaintiffs show that the “Soldier Monument” is made out of Italian marble and has

already suffered some of the ravages of time and shows some signs of cracking at its base

and higher up.

48. Plaintiffs show that even if due care is taken, the Monument may be greatly damaged if

and when it is moved.

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49. Plaintiff’s show that if the Monuments are moved to an out-of-the-way place of lesser

honor Plaintiffs and the people of Bibb County will suffer irreparable harm, and further

show that part of the harm that the citizens of Bibb County will suffer should the

monuments be moved will be that henceforth they will be deemed a fickle, cowardly, and

irresolute people supinely or timorously swaying before the passions of the day and the

transitory mobs inflamed thereby.

50. Plaintiffs are entitled to immediate interlocutory relief in the form of a preliminary

injunction, then an order permanently enjoining Defendants from moving, obscuring,

dishonoring or otherwise interfering with the Monuments or the public’s enjoyment

thereof.

51. Plaintiffs are entitled to recover from Defendants expenses of litigation, including but not

limited to attorneys’ fees, as part of the damages, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court will:

A. Award Plaintiff a money judgment against Defendants for breach of contract and

detrimental reliance, in amounts to be determined by the factfinder; and

B. Award Plaintiff all attorneys’ fees and expenses of litigation Plaintiff incurs in

relation to the instant civil action pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11.

COUNT V

UNJUST ENRICHMENT

52. Plaintiff Lt. General James Longstreet Chapter shows that the City of Macon required it

to pay permit fees and liability insurance fees totaling $677.00 for memorial events held

at the Monument during 2016, 2017 and 2018 but has not charged any such fees for so-

called “protests” and the recent “art event” aforementioned at the Monuments. Such

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 actions on the part of Defendants have been based upon racially-motivated, content-

discriminatory foolishness and cowardice on the part of Defendants.

53. Plaintiffs are entitled to recover any fees and “insurance” payments they paid to or

through the Defendants, and to recover General Damages and Punitive Damages from

Defendants for their said behavior.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court will:

A. Award Plaintiff a money judgment against Defendants for unjust enrichment and for

punitive damages in amounts to be determined by the factfinder; and

B. Award Plaintiff all attorneys’ fees and expenses of litigation Plaintiff incurs in relation to

the instant civil action pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11.

Respectfully submitted this the 27th day of July, 2020.

Walker Chandler
Attorney for Plaintiff
101 Gleneagle Point
Peachtree City, GA 30269
[email protected]
Georgia Bar No. 120675

Verification
COMES NOW Martin Bell who being duly put upon oath deposes and says that to the best of
his information and belief the facts set forth in the above Complaint are true, this 27th day of
July, 2020.

________________________________________________.
Martin Bell

Sworn to and subscribed before me the day and year above written.

______________________________________, Notary Public

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