The California State Assembly passed a bill Monday nearly unanimously that would prevent state agencies from selling the Confederate flag “or any similar image.” The bill, AB 2444, was sponsored by Assemblyman Isadore Hall (D-Compton), who was offended to learn from his mother that a gift shop at the state Capitol was selling replica Confederate money as a novelty item, according to the Los Angeles-area CBS affiliate.
The bill bans any such future sales except for “educational” or “historical” purposes. The sole vote against the bill was Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, who was quoted by CBS: “We shouldn’t be here picking the kind of speech we like…I am not standing here defending the symbol. I am standing here defending the principle that the First Amendment principles should apply in all state buildings, of all places.”
California sided with the Union in the Civil War. Mock Confederate currency and other forms of replica money, often packaged together, are common in souvenir shops at museums and historical sites across the country.
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