The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear [order list, PDF] an appeal from African-American attorney Carlos Moore who sought to have the Mississippi state flag’s Confederate battle emblem “declared an unconstitutional relic of slavery.”

Moore filed suit [complaint, PDF] against Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant [official website] in February, 2016, arguing that the current official state flag’s confederate emblem “encourages or incites private citizens to commit acts of racial violence in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”

The case was dismissed [opinion, PDF] in September 2016 [JURIST report] by the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi [official website], and further rejected on appeal.

The Mississippi flag was adopted in 1894. Mississippians voted to keep it in 2001 via referendum, but the Mississippi population has since increasingly scrutinized it. In October 2015 The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) [university website] took the state flag down [WP report] because of the prominent Confederate emblem.

The Supreme Court made no comment on its decision to not hear the case.