Board rules in favor of NAACP, ACLU on Talbot Co. council complaint

The Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board has reportedly ruled that the Talbot County Council violated the Maryland Open Meetings Act when it held a series of closed-door sessions to decide what to do with the Talbot Boys Statue.

The Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board ruled on a Feburary 2016 complaint by the ACLU and the Talbot County Branch of the NAACP.

The complaint alleged that when Talbot County Council members themselves were called upon to discuss the matter and vote, they apparently decided in secret to retain the monument, and subsequently provided no minutes of these closed discussions to the public.

The council reportedly claimed the decision about the monument was nothing more than a routine administrative matter- which they believed to be exempt from the open meetings act.

The monument, erected in 1916, depicts a Confederate soldier with a Confederate battle flag draped across his back with the caption “To the Talbot Boys, 1861-1865, C.S.A.”

According to the ACLU, many African-Americans consider the statue “an affront to their humanity – a symbol of racism and injustice at the one place in the community meant to be dedicated to serving justice for all, the County Courthouse.”

The ACLU reports the options now available to the County include reconsidering its decision with public notice and participation, or facing a court challenge over the matter.