Plaintiffs plan to appeal dismissal of Confederate monument lawsuit

An attorney for plaintiffs said they plan to appeal a judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Pitt County over the removal of the Confederate monument from the Pitt County courthouse.

North Carolina Senior Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons of Washington, N.C., signed the motion to dismiss on Aug. 28. The motion was granted on the grounds that the county residents and groups Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy do not have legal standing to take civil action under state law.

Sermons dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning it could be returned to court.

The Confederate monument was removed from the courthouse in June 2020 after it was damaged in civil unrest. On April 15, 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.

Nick Ellis, an attorney with Poyner Spruill in Rocky Mount, filed the motion to dismiss for Pitt County. He said that standing is required to determine whether a litigant has authority or jurisdiction to assert a legal position. It is a question of law for the court, he said, but does not involve a resolution of factual disputes.

“Judge Sermons concluded the plaintiffs did not have a valid legal interest in the monument and, therefore, they could not legally challenge the board of commissioners’ decision to remove the monument,” Ellis explained. “So, he dismissed the case.”

H. Edward Phillips, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said Monday that he “absolutely” plans to appeal the case. That will initially entail filing a notice to appeal followed by briefings where the law will be discussed “in detail,” he said.

“We will fight vigorously to assert our positions for the court and why we were correct in why the matter should not be dismissed,” Phillips said.

The lawsuit was filed under the state’s Monument’s Act, which Phillips said is not being followed by local governments. The law in part prohibits items dubbed “objects of remembrance” from being permanently removed. Those objects can be relocated, temporarily or permanently, but any permanent relocation must see the object moved to a site of similar prominence within the jurisdiction from which it was removed.

Phillips has represented other plaintiffs across the state in similar cases.

“What we’ve been trying to do in all these cases throughout ... North Carolina is to have government officials follow the law,” Phillips said. “They don’t think they need to for whatever reason, but I do believe that they have to and I believe the law is clear.”