CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW/AP) –A federal appeals court has ruled on requiring white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay damages to individuals injured during the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 1, 2024, that state law’s language and history were clear enough to predict how Virginia’s high court would rule.
The decision reinstates over $2 million in punitive damages, ensuring each of the eight plaintiffs receives $350,000, in addition to the $2 million in compensatory damages awarded by the jury.
The case stemmed from a federal lawsuit against two dozen white nationalists and organizations involved in demonstrations protesting the removal of a Confederate statue. The rally, declared an unlawful assembly, saw James Alex Fields Jr. drive his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one woman and injuring dozens more. Fields is serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs expressed satisfaction with the court’s ruling, while lawyers for the defendants have not yet responded.