Judge: City's Confederate statues are war memorials

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin:

Virginia judge rules Charlottesville confederate statues are war monuments

Judge: City's Confederate statues are war memorials
By Tyler Hammel 20 hrs ago

A Charlottesville judge has ruled that two downtown statues depicting Confederate generals are war monuments and therefore are protected by state code.

Circuit Judge Richard E. Moore stated in a letter dated April 25 that the city’s statues of Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are war memorials. ... “I find this conclusion inescapable,” he wrote. “It is the very reason the statues have been complained about from the beginning. It does no good pretending they are something other than what they actually are.”

The Monument Fund filed suit in March 2017, claiming the Charlottesville City Council in 2016 violated a state code section that bans the removal of war memorials when it voted to remove the statue of Lee. The suit was later amended to also include the Jackson statue.

The defense recently has focused on the question of whether the statues constitute monuments. Recent motions by the defense have sought to have a jury make the determination. ... If the statues were not found to be war monuments, an argument could be made that they are not protected by state law.
....

Tyler Hammel is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact him at [phone], [e-mail] or @TylerHammelVA on Twitter.

[Cartoonist]

1. They're not U.S.A. war memorials

They are statues of traitors.

[abqtommy]

4. For the CSA the Civil War

was a treasonous war fought by traitors. The CSA/traitors lost the war and so forfeited any right to
determine that it's proper for anyone to try to normalize their behavior or memory.

[playaseeker]

2. Let the CSA enforce this

If the Confederate States needs war memorials, then let them enforce this law in their country. Oh, that's right, they lost. When you lose a war, you get governed by those that won the war. So much for this judge's logic

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Since people seem unclear about this, here's the applicable section of the Virginia code:

There is no applicable federal code.

§ 15.2-1812. Memorials for war veterans.

A locality may, within the geographical limits of the locality, authorize and permit the erection of monuments or memorials for any war or conflict, or for any engagement of such war or conflict, to include the following monuments or memorials: Algonquin (1622), French and Indian (1754-1763), Revolutionary (1775-1783), War of 1812 (1812-1815), Mexican (1846-1848), Confederate or Union monuments or memorials of the War Between the States (1861-1865), Spanish-American (1898), World War I (1917-1918), World War II (1941-1945), Korean (1950-1953), Vietnam (1965-1973), Operation Desert Shield-Desert Storm (1990-1991), Global War on Terrorism (2000- ), Operation Enduring Freedom (2001- ), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003- ). If such are erected, it shall be unlawful for the authorities of the locality, or any other person or persons, to disturb or interfere with any monuments or memorials so erected, or to prevent its citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation and care of same. For purposes of this section, "disturb or interfere with" includes removal of, damaging or defacing monuments or memorials, or, in the case of the War Between the States, the placement of Union markings or monuments on previously designated Confederate memorials or the placement of Confederate markings or monuments on previously designated Union memorials.

The governing body may appropriate a sufficient sum of money out of its funds to complete or aid in the erection of monuments or memorials to the veterans of such wars. The governing body may also make a special levy to raise the money necessary for the erection or completion of any such monuments or memorials, or to supplement the funds already raised or that may be raised by private persons, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion or other organizations. It may also appropriate, out of any funds of such locality, a sufficient sum of money to permanently care for, protect and preserve such monuments or memorials and may expend the same thereafter as other funds are expended.

Code 1950, § 15-696; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-270; 1982, c. 19; 1988, c. 284; 1997, c. 587; 1998, c. 752; 2005, c. 390; 2010, c. 860.

The chapters of the acts of assembly referenced in the historical citation at the end of this section may not constitute a comprehensive list of such chapters and may exclude chapters whose provisions have expired.