Attorney: Judge OK's motion to dismiss suit challenging monument removal

A judge has ruled that residents attempting to sue Pitt County over the removal of the Confederate monument from the Pitt County Courthouse do not have legal standing to take civil action, an attorney representing the county said.

Nick Ellis, the attorney with Poyner Spruill in Rocky Mount, put forth the motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against Pitt County in June by several county residents, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy.

The plaintiffs sued in an effort to return the Pitt County Confederate monument back to the space at the courthouse from where it was removed in June of 2020. It had been damaged in civil unrest, and county officials ordered its removal to prevent further problems.

At its April 15 meeting, the Pitt County Board of Commissioners voted to donate the statue to Valor Memorial Park in Davidson County. A crew took possession of the monument on May 2. Attempts to reach the park to confirm if the monument was on display were unsuccessful.

Ellis said that North Carolina Senior Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons of Washington, N.C., granted the motion to dismiss the lawsuit last week on the grounds that plaintiffs lack the legal standing to bring their claims to court.

Legal standing means plaintiffs have sufficient connection to the matter and that they have suffered harm, according to multiple reference sources.

“I’m sure Pitt County appreciates the court’s consideration of our motion to dismiss and the arguments we made in court,” Ellis said. “We’re pleased to hear these arguments, all based on precedent from the N.C. Supreme Court, were applied to the analysis of the parties’ legal positions, which resulted in the plaintiffs’ case being dismissed for their lack of standing to sue Pitt County.”

H. Edward Phillips, representing the plaintiffs, argued on Aug. 19 that his clients had standing as descendants of Confederate veterans as well as tax-paying residents of Pitt County.

The lawsuit was filed under the state’s Monuments Act, which states in part that an object of remembrance located on public property may not be permanently removed and may only be relocated, whether temporarily or permanently, and that a permanent relocation entails the object be featured in a site of “similar prominence” within the jurisdiction from which it was removed.

Phillips could not be reached for comment.

Ellis initially predicted that Sermons’ decision would be made within the week of the hearing on the motion to dismiss. As of Aug. 30, the judge’s decision was not published in Pitt County Civil Court.

Sermons primarily operates as Senior Resident Superior Court Judge in North Carolina’s Second Judicial District, which includes Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell and Washington counties. Judges often are called on to rule in cases outside of their district in specialized circumstances.

Ellis said that Sermons has asked him to prepare a proposed order that will need to be circulated to Phillips before its submission to the court, which can take some time.