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.