Minutes before Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue was removed from Health Sciences Park
The Supreme Court of Tennessee denied the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ (SCV) petition to review the dismissal of its case against the city of Memphis for the removal of three confederate monuments from former city-owned parks.
The SCV sought a temporary injunction in 2018 to preserve the monuments that were removed in 2017 by Memphis Greenspace, the nonprofit that purchased the two Memphis parks and subsequently removed the statues.
Last year, the Davidson County Chancery Court determined that the monuments were no longer on public property and therefore were not covered under the Tennessee Historical Protection Act (THPA) of 2013.
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The court also determined that the city acted legally in its efforts to remove the monuments.
That decision was upheld first in June by the Tennessee Court of Appeals and then again this week by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Here is what the city’s chief legal officer, Bruce McMullen said about the court’s decision:
“We’re pleased with the Supreme Court’s denial of the application of the Sons of Confederate Veterans petition to review the dismissal of this case in the lower Courts. This decision effectively ends this litigation and allows Memphis Greenspace to relocate the statues to an appropriate venue outside of Shelby County. Every decision the city of Memphis has made throughout this process has been thoughtful and most importantly, legal.”
