DANVILLE, Va. (AP) - A judge in the Virginia city that was the final refuge for the Confederacy is set to hear arguments over the state's bid to erase the Confederate battle flag from license plates.
The hearing Friday in Danville comes as the city grapples with the enduring symbols of the Confederacy, a debate sparked across the South by the killings of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, South Carolina, church in June.
The suspect in the shootings had been photographed posing with a Confederate battle flag.
The Virginia attorney general's office wants the judge to set aside a 2001 injunction that allowed the image of the Confederate flag on vanity plates honoring the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The request will be opposed by attorneys representing the Southern heritage group.
