Statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson will remain in Charlottesville for now, even though a new state law will allow the city to remove them. Several issues stand in the way of change.
Last fall, a judge in Charlottesville ruled that city council could not take statues of Lee and Jackson down, because state law protected war memorials. The city is appealing to Virginia’s supreme court, but earlier this year the legislature changed the law. Plaintiffs now say they won’t stand in the way and have asked the circuit court to modify its order so the sculptures could be moved.
“The whole purpose of the lawsuit was because city council violated the law," says the plaintiff's spokesman, Buddy Weber. "Now the law has been changed, so we need to move on.”
Under the new law, the city can’t destroy or damage the statues.
“The new law requires them to offer the statues to any museum, historical society, battlefield,” Weber explains.
He couldn’t say whether anyone had come forward to offer the statues a new home, but said moving costs would be covered.
“We do have someone willing to donate the money to move them to a respectful place.”
The city is, however, still on the hook for $365,000 in legal fees owed to the plaintiffs – one possible reason why its appeal might still go forward.
