Story highlights Federal court affirms that New Orleans can remove Confederate monuments

Monuments had been declared "nuisances" by city council

(CNN) New Orleans can remove three Confederate monuments that are displayed in prominent locations, a US federal court ruled on Monday.

A lawsuit had been filed by three historic preservation societies and the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans seeking to stop the city from removing the statues.

But the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected their claims as lacking "legal viability or support." The ruling affirmed a similar decision made by a district court last year.

After the legal victory, the city expects to move swiftly to take down the three Confederate monuments that honor former Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and the Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard. Bids for removing the three statues will be released Tuesday and private dollars are expected to be used, according to the New Orleans mayor's office.

A fourth controversial monument, called the Battle of Liberty Place monument, cannot be taken down because it's subject to a federal court order. It's an obelisk marking a post-war uprising by the White League, a white supremacy group, in a fight against the Reconstruction government in 1874.

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