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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.