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Appeals court dismisses lawsuit seeking to reverse removal of Confederate statues from UT campus

The University of Texas decided to remove the statues from the South Mall in 2017.

AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The related video was published in October 2019.

A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit aiming to reverse the University of Texas' 2017 decision to remove Confederate statues from its South Mall, according to a report from our news partners at the Austin American-Statesman.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to uphold a lower-court ruling that the Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and several of its members, lacked the standing to sue the university over the statue removal, the report states.

Members of the organization argue that they have their own unique ties to the Confederacy and these works, which the group says express their political viewpoints. They say the removal and relocation violated their free speech and rights, the report states.

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According to the Statesman, the court rejected this argument, saying those who filed the suit were unable to show that they "suffered particular and concrete injury by the removals."

"This case was correctly dismissed months ago for lack of standing, and we are pleased that the Fifth Circuit agreed with our arguments and affirmed the district court’s decision," Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement released Monday. "As the Court recognized, the plaintiffs had no legal injury from the university’s decision to move property on its campus."

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