MS Judge Displays Flag Without Rebel Symbol

CLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP)- A Mississippi judge says his courtroom now displays a proposed new state flag designed by an artist rather than the 124-year-old Mississippi banner that includes the Confederate battle emblem.

Clarksdale Municipal Judge Carlos Moore ordered the state flag removed from the courtroom on his first day there in 2017. He says on Tuesday, he started displaying a flag designed by Jackson artist Laurin Stennis , granddaughter of the late U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis.

Moore told the CBS Affiliate in Memphis, WREG-TV, that Stennis is trying to unite people and recognizes her grandfather was wrong to support segregation. Her design has red bars on the left and right. A white center section has 20 blue stars.

A federal judge in 2016 rejected Moore’s lawsuit that sought to declare the Mississippi flag an unconstitutional relic of slavery.