U.S. Supreme Court asked to hear Confederate statue case

By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two Richmond residents living near the site where a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stood for more than a century have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia that let state officials remove the towering monument. In petitioning the court Wednesday, lawyers for the landowners argued former Gov. Ralph Northam didn’t have the authority to revoke an agreement to maintain the statue on state-owned land. Virginia promised to forever maintain the statue in 19th century deeds transferring its ownership to the state. But the Supreme Court of Virginia sided with Northam last year. The statue was removed in September.