Judges question groups seeking to keep New Orleans Confederate monuments; no ruling issued

A three-judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aimed a barrage of skeptical questions Wednesday at the groups hoping to keep three Confederate monuments in place in New Orleans.

As is typical, they did not issue an immediate ruling, but the judges seemed mostly unpersuaded by the legal theories offered by the four groups involved in fighting the removals, which were ordered by the City Council in a 6-1 vote last year.

The judges are expected to decide in the coming weeks whether the monuments must stay in place while the full case plays out in federal district court.

Led by the Monumental Task Committee, those groups argue that the upkeep their members have done over the years at statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and P.T. Beauregard give them an ownership interest in the statues and a say in what happens to them.

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