Virginia Supreme Court Hears Challenges to Dem Governor's Plan to Remove Robert E. Lee Statue
A 131-year-old statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee took center stage on Tuesday as the Supreme Court of Virginia heard arguments on whether the state has the right to take down the controversial monument.
The court heard arguments in two lawsuits that challenge Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to remove the enormous bronze equestrian statue of Lee from a traffic circle on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.
It’s unclear when the judges will issue their ruling. The court generally averages about six to nine weeks to render decisions after oral arguments, but there are wide variations among cases.
Tuesday’s virtual hearing came a day after the city council in Charlottesville, Virginia, voted to remove two statues of Confederate generals from downtown parks, including one of Lee that was the focus of a violent rally in 2017.
Northam announced his decision to remove the Richmond statue in June 2020, 10 days after George Floyd’s death sparked protests and riots in cities around the country, including Richmond.
The nationally recognized statue is now covered with anti-police graffiti.
The central issue to be decided by the Supreme Court is whether the state is legally bound by a decision made by state officials who accepted ownership of the statue in 1889 and agreed to “affectionately protect” it as a monument to Lee.
Virginia Solicitor General Toby Heytens argued Tuesday that the agreement was nullified last year when the General Assembly repealed the 1889 act and directed the state Department of General Services to remove the 13-ton sculpture.
The state also argues that the private citizens who filed the lawsuits to try to prevent the statue’s removal cannot force the state to maintain the monument.
“This case is about whether a handful of private individuals possess the judicially enforceable right to override a decision of the commonwealth’s political branches and the will of many of their own neighbors to force the commonwealth of today and tomorrow to continue to maintain this statue indefinitely,” Heytens said.
Two separate lawsuits were filed: one by a group of five Richmond residents who own property near the statue and the other by William Gregory, a descendant of signatories to the 1890 deed that transferred the statue, pedestal and land they sit on to the state.
In his lawsuit, Gregory argues that the state agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” the statue. In their lawsuit, the property owners argue that an 1889 joint resolution of the Virginia General Assembly accepting the statue and agreeing to maintain it is binding on the governor.
Patrick McSweeney, a lawyer representing the property owners, said the General Assembly’s budget bill last year, which repealed the 1889 act, was unconstitutional and cannot override agreements requiring the state to protect and maintain the statue.
“Ultimately, the restrictive covenants that we rely on are and were valid and enforceable,” McSweeney said. “What we’re talking about in this case is whether public policy had been changed and it can only change by legitimate action, constitutional action of the General Assembly.”
Gregory’s lawyer, Joseph Blackburn Jr., said that his client retains the right to enforce agreements in the deed that prohibit the removal of the statue, despite the General Assembly’s actions last year.
“I can’t imagine in our country that the sovereign can take away property rights by just passing a law,” Blackburn said.
A lower court judge sided with the governor in both cases, finding that the 19th-century deed would violate “current public policy.”
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
