BY MILES LAYTON AND NICOLE BOWMAN LAYTON
A civil lawsuit wants the courts to void the Town of Edenton and Chowan County’s agreement to move the Confederate memorial statue to the Veterans Plaza behind the Chowan County Courthouse.
The lawsuit was filed last week in Chowan County Superior Court.
Several media outlets published articles Jan. 4 based on a press release by the plaintiffs’ legal representation, Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Most of the articles do not mention trying to get comments from the town or county. However, the Daily Advance article states that Bob Kirby, the chair of the Chowan County Commission, and Town officials had not responded to a request for comment prior to the article’s publication on Saturday.
During Monday’s Commission meeting, Kirby spoke about the Daily Advance/Chowan Herald article before the board went into executive session to discuss the lawsuit. He said that these media outlets did not reach out to him nor the county for comment prior to publishing a story about the lawsuit.
Responding to inquiries from the Albemarle Observer, Town Manager Corey Gooden, Mayor Hackney High and Town Attorney Hood Ellis said the same thing: No one from the Daily Advance/Chowan Herald tried to contact them before publishing the story.
Instead, the story publishes only the plaintiff’s point of view as presented in the press release and lawsuit. One of the main tenants of good journalism is getting both sides of the issue.
The Albemarle Observer reached out to various public officials to give them the opportunity to comment before its story was published.
Because it is not prudent to comment on pending litigation, neither the County Commission nor Town Hall would comment on the lawsuit at this time.
MEDIA BIAS
Because the story circulating through the local media relies heavily on the lawsuit and the plaintiff’s press release, it shows a bias toward one position – the removal of the monument.
The article uses a quote from the press release attributed to one of the lawsuit plaintiffs – Rod Phillips — an outspoken critic of the Confederate Memorial and a member of the Move the Monument Coalition that seeks removal of the statue.
“Removing the public’s input and voice from something so important to folks who live and work in Edenton is no way to do business or run a local government,” Phillips’ quote from the plaintiffs’ press release. “We believe that this and every Confederate monument is a symbol of white supremacy. I know not everyone agrees with that — but I don’t think anyone would agree that it’s OK for elected officials to hide behind closed doors while making important decisions. That’s not how a representative government is supposed to work.”
To provide some degree of context and balance to this story, the Albemarle Observer researched the issue. The 198-page lawsuit is attached below the article as a PDF for folks to read.
DEFENDANTS VS PLAINTIFFS
Who filed the lawsuit? That’s an important detail that shouldn’t be brushed aside by the legacy media.
Lawsuit was filed at 2:40 p.m. Friday (Jan. 3) by Jacob H. Sussman, an attorney for the Durham-based Social Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) that has represented the Move the Monument Coalition for some time. According to the firm’s website, the SCSJ is “a multidisciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believed that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers, and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.” For information, visit their webpage: https://southerncoalition.org/
Who are the plaintiffs? These folks are familiar faces in Edenton and Elizabeth City: Stella Brothers, Sherronne Battle, Rev. Dr. John Shannon, Debra Miller, and Rod Phillips. Miller and Phillips are members of the Move the Monument Coalition. Brothers and Shannon were both members of Edenton’s Human Relations Commission that recommended that the statue be moved to Hollowell Park. Battle is also a member of the Move the Monument Coalition and the Edenton-Chowan School Board.
The lawsuit points out that plaintiffs Shannon, Battle and Brothers are Black and claims that placing the monument on the Chowan County Courthouse grounds would be an “ongoing violation” of their rights to equal protection under the North Carolina Constitution.
Who are the defendants? The lawsuit states that elected officials are sued in their official capacity. From the Town Hall side are the Town of Edenton, Mayor Hackney High and Town Council members Elton Bond, Aaron Coston, Samuel Dixon, Craig Miller, Patrick Sellers and Bob Turner. Defendants from the Chowan County Commission side are Chairman Bob Kirby and commissioners Ron Cummings, Chris Evans, Ellis Lawrence, Larry McLaughlin and Tray Taylor.
Twelve elected officials (County Commission and Town Council) unanimously approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding removal of the Confederate memorial at a joint meeting in November.
Of the 12 officials who voted in favor of the MOU – four are African-American: Town Council members Elton Bond and Aaron Coston; County Commissioners Ellis Lawrence and Tray Taylor.
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
According to the MOU, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other plaintiffs in the civil action against moving the statue have agreed to the document and to enter into a Consent Judgment with the town. Sources with one of the plaintiffs in the civil action said the MOU had not been agreed upon at the time of the November vote.
The courthouse, at the intersection of Queen and Broad streets in Edenton, is located on several acres that includes a parking lot and green space. The monument will be moved near the intersection of Court and Queen streets, between the Chowan County Jail and the Veterans Memorial.
After the statue is moved, the town will convey a bill of sale or similar document to the county. “By accepting the bill of sale, the County agrees to keep and maintain the Confederate Monument in compliance to all federal and state laws and regulations.” The County will also assume all obligations related to the statue’s maintenance and landscaping.
The Town of Edenton, at its expense, will remove the monument, surrounding brick square, four flag-poles and ground lighting and move all of it to the new location behind the courthouse.
The MOU noted that the location satisfies the statutory requirements of moving the monument to a “site of similar prominence, honor, visibility, availability and access within the town.”
Worth noting, there is another lawsuit against Town Hall regarding moving the statue. In order for the MOU to be executed, the plaintiffs in the civil complaint must agree to the monument’s move to the courthouse property.
“As for our case against the town, regardless of what others say or gets printed in my source of fish wrap, the case has not been decided as the NC Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans has not approved the Memorandum of Understanding and the National SCV has been tacit,” said Michael Dean, Commander of the Edenton Bell Battery of the SCV. “Unless the town and county approve a proposed change to the MOU, those plaintiffs are not likely to sign off on it. The judge will have to decide. If the town wants to move on their park renovation plan, they would be well advised to revise the MOU.”
STATUE’S HISTORY
The Confederate Memorial was erected in the early 1900s after a fundraiser by Bell Battery Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy aimed to honor residents of Chowan County who died while serving the Confederacy during the Civil War. Worth noting, the memorial statue was erected at a time when the generation of veterans that served in the Civil War started to die out. The last living Civil War veteran, Henry Woolson died in 1956.
Many of the men from Chowan County who served in the Confederate Army were drafted by the Confederate government. Moreover, many of the men memorialized by this monument on South Broad Street are buried in mass graves on Civil War battlefields across the country, far from their families in Chowan County.
To some people, the Confederate statue is a monument to racism. According to the lengthy history recorded in the lawsuit, the American Historical Association issued a statement about Confederate monuments in August 2017: “The bulk of the [Confederate] monument building took place not in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War but from the close of the 19th century into the second decade of the 20th … [These] [m]emorials to the Confederacy were intended, in part, to obscure the terrorism required to overthrow Reconstruction, and to intimidate African Americans politically and isolate them from the mainstream of public life.”
For almost four years, people on both sides of the issue have waged a protest or counter protest in front of the Confederate Memorial each Saturday – even during big weekends when tourists traveled to Edenton.
The MOU was a compromise where neither side of the issue was happy with the outcome, but it was something that town and county came together to agree on this solution.
WHAT DO THE PLAINTIFFS CLAIM?
Any accomplished attorney knows that it is best to fire grapeshot vs. a single bullet so that there’s a better chance for something to hit its target as the matter is being adjudicated in the courts. Plaintiffs made several claims as to how the county and town violated state law when decisions were made as to where to place the statute.
Defendants will respond to these claims through their filings in the court system, not by talking to the media. When defendants file their answers to rebut these claims, the Albemarle Observer will report what they said.
For now, this is what we’ve got from the plaintiff’s side of the lawsuit.
OPEN MEETINGS LAWS
The plaintiffs claim Town Council and the County Commission violated open meeting laws.
“The pattern of behavior demonstrated by Defendants indicates a systemic disregard for the Open Meetings Law on matters of public importance,” the lawsuit states. “This Court’s intervention is necessary to prevent ongoing and future violations, ensuring that public business is conducted openly and transparently as mandated by law.”
Lawsuit claims the decision by the Town Council and County Commission – which met for a joint session November 25 to approve the Memorandum of Understanding – was made in 10 minutes and no public comment was permitted. A copy of the agenda (click here) does not include a public comment portion of the meeting.
The issue about the statue’s placement has been written about and discussed for several years, no one from the public signed up to offer comment at the Nov. 25 meeting, according to town and county officials and the Albemarle Observer who was present at that meeting. In fact, there were many meetings, be it Town Council or County Commission, where no one offered comment during the public comment portions of these meetings.
EQUAL PROTECTION
The lawsuit says the defendants violated the Equal Protection Clause of the NC Constitution.
“Here, Defendants seek to install the Confederate monument on the very grounds of the Chowan County Courthouse where justice is supposed to be impartially meted out in adherence to the state constitution,” the lawsuit said. “By way of an Administrative Order in 2020, the North Carolina Supreme Court recognized the harms imposed by the placement of imagery associated with white supremacy in and around our courts when it decided to remove a portrait of a former Chief Justice ‘in light of his pro slavery views and his active participation in the slave industry.’ As former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Beasley stated: “[i]t is important that our courtroom spaces convey the highest ideals of justice and that people who come before our Court feel comfortable knowing that they will be treated fairly.”
ACCESS TO COURTS
The lawsuit says defendants’ placement of the Confederate monument on the grounds of the Chowan County Courthouse “impairs the right of Plaintiffs to access the courts and other important government activities occurring within the courthouse secure in the knowledge that justice will be administered impartially and that no one involved in court or government proceedings will be distracted or improperly influenced by the Confederate monument.”
WHAT THE PLAINTIFFS WANT
Plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to enjoin and preliminarily restrain defendants from relocating the Confederate monument to the grounds of the Chowan County Courthouse.
- Entry of preliminary injunctive relief with respect to all claims.
- For a judgment declaring that any and all closed sessions, meetings, or discussions conducted by Defendants, individually and/or jointly, in violation of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law are null and void, including any actions taken, considered, discussed, or deliberated in such sessions.
- For a declaratory judgment affirming that Defendants’ actions in holding closed, non-public meetings to discuss transacting the Confederate monument violate the North Carolina Open Meetings Law.
- For a judgment, under the Open Meetings Law ordering Defendants to disclose the full, unredacted minutes of any closed, non-public meeting that occurred in violation of the Open Meetings Law.
- For a declaratory judgment that the Defendant Town of Edenton and the Defendant Town of Edenton Mayor and Defendant Town of Edenton Council Members also violated the North Carolina Open Meetings law by improperly discussing the conveyance of the Confederate monument in closed session pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143-318.11(a)(5).
- For a declaratory judgment that the Defendants violated the requirements N.C.G.S. Chpt. 160A, Art 12, “Sale and Disposition of Property,” by unlawfully conveying or proposing to convey the Confederate monument in violation of Article 12. 27
- For a writ of mandamus or, in the alternative, temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctions enjoining Defendants from holding closed sessions and excluding the public for any purpose not permitted under N.C.G.S. § 143-318.11.
- For an order declaring that Defendants violated one or more provisions of the North Carolina Constitution as set forth above.
- For an award of attorney’s fees and costs incurred in securing the requested relief, as authorized by N.C.G.S. §§ 132-9 and 143-318.16B.
- For an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs against the Defendants pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 6-21.7
- For such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.
