Judge: Memphis non-profit must preserve Confederate statues

NASHVILLE – A judge says a Tennessee non-profit must preserve and cannot sell statues of three Confederate-era leaders removed from Memphis parks in December.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle barred Memphis Greenspace Inc. on Monday from moving the statues of three figures — Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Capt. J. Harvey Mathes and President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis — pending a hearing before the Tennessee Historical Commission within 60 days.

The commission will decide whether Memphis violated state law when it sold the parks and statues to Greenspace for $2,000 on Dec. 20. By making the parks private property, city officials have said it allowed the removal of the statues.

The monuments were removed after the sale and they are being stored by the non-profit.

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com