AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A statue of a former U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who supported segregation laws has been removed from outside the Kennebec County Courthouse.
The statue of Melville Fuller apparently was removed from its granite base in Augusta on Sunday, the Kennebec Journal reported. Kennebec County administrator Scott Ferguson said neither the statue’s private owner nor anybody else told the county that the monument was slated to be moved.
Robert Fuller Jr., a relative of the chief justice, owns the statue. A security camera recorded the removal of the statue on Sunday morning, but the view was partially obstructed by a column, the Kennebec Journal reported.
A crane services company told the Kennebec Journal it removed the statue and placed it into storage. Robert Fuller Jr. has not commented on any future plans for the statue.
Melville Fuller, an Augusta native, sided with the majority when the high court codified the “separate but equal” doctrine in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court requested in 2020 that the county move the statue.
