The Dallas City Council was within its rights to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee and to take down the Confederate Memorial, an appeals court has ruled. In a split decision, the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas upheld a trial judge to dismissed a lawsuit.
The group Return Lee to Lee Park tried to overturn decision by the Dallas City Council to remove the monuments on grounds that both were protected historical sites. But the court adopted the city’s position that “The City presented evidence that neither the Lee Statue nor the Confederate Monument was listed on the Registry of National Historical Places and that neither has been designated as a state archeological landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. Therefore, their removal was not subject to the prerequisites to removal” according to the opinion.
The appeals court also dismissed claims that the group had no standing to bring the legal action and a claim that the city violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by voting on the removals without proper notice.
“It’s disappointing but it’s not completed unexpected” said Warren Norred, attorney for Return Lee to Lee Park. “The 5th court has not sought to protected disfavored, politically incorrect historical sites, so this is not a surprise.”
He does not expect an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Lee statue was removed Sept. 14, 2017 and later sold at auction for $1.4 million. The
Confederate Memorial was removed in June and put in storage at the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve complex.