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April 5, 2021 03:48:31 am
The Supreme Court of Virginia Thursday ruled that the city of Charlottesville can remove two Confederate statues, including one of General Robert E. Lee for protesting the removal of which a deadly white supremacist rally took place in 2017.
The court overturned a Charlottesville Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down statues of General Lee and General Thomas Jackson. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the city were the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., and The Monument Fund, Inc. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the removal of the statues would violate a 1997 state law prohibiting localities from removing Confederate war memorials.
TYLER HAMMEL | The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Thursday issued an opinion that clears the way for Charlottesville to remove its statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas âStonewallâ Jackson.
The court sided with the city in its appeal of a Charlottesville Circuit Court ruling that found that the City Council violated state code when it voted to remove the statues. The court ruled in part that a previous law preventing the removal of war monuments did not apply to statues erected before 1997.
The opinion ends a years-long legal battle to remove the two statues that in its wake saw a deadly rally, legislative change and the removal of hundreds of Confederate statues across the country.
THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED.Â
The Supreme Court on Thursday said a law preventing the removal of war monuments does not apply to Charlottesville s statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson.Â
The ruling was handed down in Charlottesville s appeal of a lower court ruling, with the state s highest court saying in part that a previous law preventing the removal of war monuments does not apply to statues built before 1997.
Released Thursday morning, the opinion signals the end of a years long legal battle to remove two Confederate statues in downtown Charlottesville that in its wake saw a deadly rally, legislative change and the removal of dozens statues across the country.