The fate of two contested statues of Confederate heroes in Charlottesville, Virginia is in the hands of a judge who is not expected to rule on the matter for at least another three weeks, it was learned on Friday.
Judge Richard E Moore of Charlottesville Circuit Court declined to issue a ruling on whether a lawsuit seeking to block Charlottesville from removing the statues could proceed, The Washington Post reported.
In February, the city of Charlottesville voted by a narrow 3-to-2 margin to take down statues of General Robert E Lee and another military hero from the South, Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson.
The statue of Lee was the focal point of a protest by a thousands of white nationalists last month which turned violent when one of them rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist counter-demonstrators, killing one of them.
In February, the city of Charlottesville voted by a narrow 3-to-2 margin to take down statues of General Robert E Lee (above) and another military hero from the South, Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson
Mayor Mike Signer talks to reporters in front of the statue of Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson that is covered in a black tarp as it stands in Justice Park
A week after the violence at Charlottesville, the mayor called on the governor to convene an emergency meeting of state lawmakers to allow the city to remove the statue of Lee (seen left covered with plastic). The image on the right shows the statue of Jackson also covered
A few weeks later, a number of conservative organizations, among them the Virginia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the statue removals.
On Friday, lawyers for the city made their case to Moore, asking that the lawsuit be dismissed and that the statue removals be permitted to proceed.
The courtroom was reportedly filled with nearly 100 people who were eagerly anticipating a ruling by the judge.
They listened as a number of pro-Confederacy witnesses told the judge about the importance of the statues in preserving their heritage.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs also argued that a longstanding state law prevents local governments from removing Confederate monuments.
The original law, which dates back to over 100 years ago, forbids any county from taking down Confederate monuments.
In 1997, an amendment to the law stated that cities and municipalities were also barred from removing the statues.
The pro-Confederacy alliance is arguing that the 1997 statute should apply retroactively to a city like Charlottesville which wants to remove the two statues that were erected in the 1920s.
Charlottesville’s attorneys argued that the city was exempt from the 1997 amendment because the statues were built 70 years before it was approved.
The statue of Lee was the focal point of a protest by a thousands of white nationalists last month which turned violent when one of them, James Alex Fields (left) rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist counter-demonstrators, killing one of them, Heather Heyer (right)
People placed flowers at a memorial for Heyer and the other victims at the intersection where Fields, a white supremacist, drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors
Moore told the assembled gathering that he would need at least two or three weeks’ to decide on the case, ‘but that might be overly optimistic,’ he warned.
The judge also urged both sides of the argument to stop sending him letters and making phone calls to his offices.
Moore said that his office and that of his clerk have been inundated with messages from people trying to sway the judge.
‘That’s not how our system works, nor should it work,” he said.
Moore said the lobbying efforts were ‘counterproductive,’ a ‘distraction,’ and ‘worse than a waste of time.’
‘I need to remind everyone courts are not bound to public opinion one way or the other,’ he said.
‘In our system, it’s improper for people to contact a judge and try to influence the outcome of a case.’
A week after the violence at Charlottesville, the town’s mayor called on the governor to convene an emergency meeting of state lawmakers to allow the city to remove the statue of Lee.
Mayor Mike Signer said recent clashes over race and the Confederacy had turned ‘equestrian statues into lightning rods’ and urged Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe to convene a special session of the General Assembly.
He said the city must respond ‘by denying the Nazis and the KKK and the so-called alt-right the twisted totem they seek’.
Despite the urgent call from the mayor, McAuliffe’s spokesman Brian Coy said the governor will not call a special session while the issue is being decided in court.