(NewsNation Now) — Former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones (D) says it’s “shameful” the state is threatening some of its biggest cities over pushes to replace Confederate iconography with civil rights leaders.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall recently doubled down on a state law that threatens cities with fines of $25,000 if they remove a statue that is more than 40 years old.

“Any elected official who removes a historic monument or statute in violation of Alabama law has broken the law,” Marshall said. “He’s not simply decided to pay a fee so that he can lawfully have the monument or statue removed. He’s committed an illegal act.”

Most recently, Montgomery, Alabama was in Marshall’s sights because it renamed Jeff Davis Avenue to Fred Gray Avenue. Gray, 91, was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jones said any attempt to escalate the punishment beyond the fine would likely die in the state’s supreme court, and donations would cover the fine.

“There’s enough people in the state of Alabama that would gladly gladly raise the money to have Fred Gray’s name on that boulevard instead of the president of the Confederate States of America that waged war against the United States,” Jones said on “Dan Abrams Live.”

“We got monuments to fish and insects, but we can’t move a Confederate monument without getting the wrath of the Republican attorney general in this state,” Jones said. “It’s just really shameful.”

Marshall declined an offer to appear on the show.

Abrams is writing a book with Fred Gray titled “Alabama v. King” that is due out in May.