PITTSBORO — For now, it’s over.
Superior Court Judge Susan Bray granted Chatham County’s motion to dismiss the case against the Board of Commissioners filed by three residents and the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy regarding the Confederate monument that previously stood on the grounds of the Chatham County Historic Courthouse in Pittsboro.
The decision, handed down Monday, may be the end of the legal battle over the county’s removal of the monument, which was first installed in 1907.
Though the monument was removed two weeks ago, the UDC was still seeking in court a declaratory judgment on its ownership. The UDC argued that the statue was a gift, but the county argued that a license created by the county in 1907, entered into with the UDC, and stored at the N.C. Archives demonstrated that the statue was owned by the UDC.
During Monday’s proceedings, attorneys for the county and the pro-removal group Chatham for All argued that Judge Bray should dismiss the case on the UDC’s lack of standing, or right to sue someone. Nick Ellis, an attorney for the county, listed several court cases to define precedent for the argument, and included the May 2019 incorporation of the Winnie Davis Chapter, which was done under an assumed business name for the United Daughters of the Confederacy-NC Inc.
Cabell Regan, an attorney for the UDC, filed an affadavit last week on behalf of Barbara Pugh, the UDC’s president and one of the named plaintiffs, where she had amended the original filing for assumed name to try to improve the defendants’ chances for having standing in the case. But as the affidavit was only served to the county’s attorneys minutes before the case was heard on Tuesday, the judge ruled that it was not admissible.
James Davis, another attorney for the UDC, argued that the group had standing as the county had expended tax dollars to remove the statue and, as taxpayers, they had the right to sue if those dollars were spent outside the scope of the board’s authority. Davis also argued that the commissioners had “manufactured a controversy.”
The commissioners voted 4-1 in August to remove the monument from the lawn of the Chatham County Historic Courthouse in downtown Pittsboro and return it to the UDC. But the group filed a lawsuit, first seeking a temporary restraining order and later a preliminary injunction against the removal of the monument. While the temporary restraining order was granted, the group was later denied the preliminary injunction and the statue and its pedestal were taken down two weeks ago and moved to an undisclosed location for storage.
County Commissioner Karen Howard, one of the four board members who voted to remove the monument, said Monday she was “relieved” by the decision.
“I’m ready for Chatham County to return to the warm, loving, wonderful, inclusive community I know it to be,” she said, “and just in time for the holidays.”
In a statement released by Chatham County following the ruling, county officials said they are pleased with the judge’s decision.
“The County looks forward to putting this difficult time behind us as we continue to move forward as a community,” the statement read. “The components of the monument were transported to a warehouse where they will be preserved and stored until such time as the UDC finds a more appropriate location to place them.”
What’s next with Chatham’s monument is uncertain. However, there’s recent precedent for handling of a previously-removed Confederate monument. The UNC Board of Governors and North Carolina chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans came to a settlement last week over the fate of the “Silent Sam” monument that previously stood on the Chapel Hill campus. “Silent Sam” will be given to the SCV, along with $2.5 million, but the group will not be allowed to place the monument in any of the 14 counties where University of North Carolina system campus are located.
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.