4/29/2019 Confederate statue hearing postponed until Tuesday | Local News | journalnow.

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Confederate statue hearing postponed until Tuesday

By Wesley Young Winston-Salem Journal 4 hrs ago

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4/29/2019 Confederate statue hearing postponed until Tuesday | Local News | journalnow.com

Workers secure the top portion of the Confederate monument as they prepare to remove it from the corner of Fourth and Liberty streets in downtown
Winston-Salem on March 12. City administrators declared it to be a public nuisance.

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4/29/2019 Confederate statue hearing postponed until Tuesday | Local News | journalnow.com

Walt Unks/Journal

A hearing on motions in the Confederate statue lawsuit starts at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Forsyth County Superior Court.

Although the motions were on the calendar for Monday's session of superior court, Judge Eric Morgan, on learning of
the estimated time needed to argue the motions, reset the hearing to take place Tuesday morning.

The Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem was taken down by the city on March 12, after city
administrators declared it to be a public nuisance. The city had the statue put in storage and plans to eventually
relocate it to Salem Cemetery.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy, which raised the money to put up the statue in 1905, filed suit on Jan. 31
over the city's plans. A judge denied the UDC's request to stop the city from taking down the statue before hearing the
UDC's lawsuit.

The UDC is trying to get the statue returned to the spot where it stood for more than 100 years.

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Opponents of the statue point out that it was erected during a period of North Carolina history when a white
supremacy campaign sought to remove blacks from the state's political life. Supporters of the statue say it
memorializes soldiers who died in the Civil War.

City officials say the actions of protesters, both pro and con, led to their decision to have the statue removed out of
concern for public safety.

Winston Courthouse LLC, owner of the apartment building where the statue stood, argued that the statue posed a
disruption to the peace and quiet of its residents.

Winston Courthouse bought the former Forsyth County Courthouse from Forsyth County in 2014, in a sale that
specifically excluded all the monuments on the property.

In its lawsuit, the UDC argues that the county owns the statue, and that it therefore can't be removed because of a state
law protecting public monuments.

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4/29/2019 Confederate statue hearing postponed until Tuesday | Local News | journalnow.com

The UDC is also claiming the city's action infringes on a number of constitutional rights: freedom of speech, the right
to due process, freedom from unlawful seizure and the right to equal protection under the law.

The UDC has also asked the court to force the city to put the statue back in its former place.

The city and Forsyth County argue that the statue is private property standing on private land, and that it therefore
doesn't fall under the state law on monuments. The city and county also argue that if the UDC does not own the statue,
it does not have the right to file suit against its removal because it is not the injured party.

In addition to motions regarding the suit, the court will be dealing with motions objecting to subpoenas that were
issued by the UDC to Mayor Allen Joines, anti-statue protester Miranda Jones and members of the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners.

Jones, through her attorney, called the subpoena a fishing expedition meant as harassment. The elected officials say
their participation is not required in the court action.

wyoung@wsjournal.com

336-727-7369

@wyoungWSJ

Wes Young

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