Story at a glance
- The Charlottesville City Council voted to remove the statue of Lee and another of Stonewall Jackson.
- A group of residents argued the monuments could not be removed due to a 1997 state law that barred local governments from removing Confederate war memorials. A circuit court agreed.
- On Thursday, Virginia’s high court reversed that ruling, arguing the 1997 statute only applies to monuments constructed after the law was adopted.
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Thursday cleared the way for the city of Charlottesville to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and another of Stonewall Jackson.
The statue of Lee was at the center of the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville that left Heather Heyer dead after white supremacist James Fields Jr. plowed his car into a crowd of counter protestors.
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The Charlottesville City Council voted to remove both statues but was then sued by a group of residents who argued the monuments could not be removed due to a 1997 state law that barred local governments from removing Confederate war memorials. A circuit court agreed and issued an injunction against the removal.
But on Thursday, Virginia’s high court reversed that ruling, arguing the 1997 state statute only applies to monuments constructed after the law was put in place and should not be applied retroactively. The Jackson statue was erected in Jackson Park in 1921 and the Lee statue in Lee Park in 1924.
“The statute has no language which imposes regulation upon the movement or covering of war monuments and memorials erected before [the law] was enacted. The circuit court erred in failing to interpret the statute according to its plain language meaning,” the court said.
Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker lauded the court’s ruling and thanked community members “for their steadfastness and perseverance over the past five years. For all of us, who were on the right side of history, Bravo!” she said, according to The Associated Press.
It’s not clear when the city will take down the Confederate monuments.
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