Dallas' Robert E. Lee Statue in Judge's Hands, Hearing Set for 1:30 P.m.

A federal judge will hear arguments Thursday on whether a statue of Robert E. Lee continuesto stand in Oak Lawn.U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater scheduled the motion for a temporary restraining order hearing at 1:30 p.m. at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas.Fitzwater issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday preventing the city from removing the statue after Dallas resident Hiram Patterson and the Sons of Confederate Veterans complained to the court that the City Council had violated the First Amendment and its own rules of procedure.Hours earlier, the City Council had voted, nearly unanimously, in favor of a resolution that called for the statue's immediate removal. The resolution also directed the mayor's task force on Confederate monuments to make recommendations about what to do with the Lee statue, the city's other Confederate monuments near City Hall and streets named after Confederate leaders.  Continue reading...