Prosecutors: Virginia city can move Confederate monument

Associated Press
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 1:12 p.m. | Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 1:12 p.m.

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The commonwealth’s attorney of Norfolk, Virginia, says the city can remove a 15-foot figure of a Confederate soldier on top of a Norfolk monument commemorating the last reunion of surviving confederate soldiers — despite a state law that bars the removal of war memorials.

NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia city’s top prosecutor and the state’s attorney general say Norfolk can relocate a Confederate monument, despite a state law barring the removal of war memorials.

The two filed a motion Tuesday seeking to dismiss a city lawsuit that says the state law infringes on its right to free speech. Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Underwood and Attorney General Mark Herring say they don’t believe the law applies to Norfolk’s 80-foot monument and they wouldn’t try to enforce it.

The 1904 law initially applied to counties and was expanded in 1997. The city’s monument was erected in 1907. Herring has previously issued an opinion saying the law didn’t apply retroactively.

What happens next with the monument wasn’t immediately clear. The city attorney says his office is reviewing the filings.