A three-judge panel from the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that a group planning on marching carrying Confederate flags could be banned from a privately-sponsored Christmas parade, the Washington Post reports.
The group, the Louisiana Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was denied entry in the parade by the Historic District Business Association, a private association of Natchitoches business owners who ran the parade under a permit from the city.
The case dates back to 2015, when the city initially denied a permit for the parade to be held. The city issued the permit to HDBA to run the parade independently, and the group denied the SCV entry into the parade.
As the Post reports, U.S. District Judge Dee Drell dismissed the Confederate group’s lawsuit last year. The 5th Circuit panel upheld Drell’s decision, finding “the City was not involved in the decision to deny the SCV the right to participate in the parade.”