Efforts to stop Silent Sam deal with Confederate group continue in multiple court cases
Nearly two months after the UNC System and the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans struck a deal over the Silent Sam Confederate monument, two groups of UNC-Chapel Hill students and faculty are fighting it in court.
A national civil rights group and The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s student newspaper, both took legal action to stop the $2.5 million payment from UNC to a trust for the SCV to preserve and display the Silent Sam Confederate monument that the group now owns.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an appeal on behalf of UNC-Chapel Hill students and faculty who were denied their motion to intervene in the lawsuit that led to the $2.5 million settlement. They filed a notice of appeal Tuesday after a judge ruled in December that the students and faculty did not prove their legal standing in the controversial agreement between the UNC System and the SCV.
“What I find frustrating about the decision to deny our motion to intervene is that this places the university in a position where they will be working with the Sons of Confederate Veterans ... rather than allowing the university to work with us and stand together in defense of the interests of all students,” UNC-CH Sophomore De’Ivyion Drew, one of the intervenors, said in a statement.
Civil rights group’s legal action
Drew and the four other UNC students and a UNC faculty member want to reopen the case, stop the deal and recover the $2.5 million payment from UNC-CH. The deal, which was finalized in November, prompted protests and drew public criticism across the state and nationally.
In their motion to intervene, the group argues that the UNC Board of Governors and the SCV worked behind closed doors to negotiate the deal and “construct a lawsuit that was without legal merit.” They said the two parties also collaborated to misrepresent critical issues in the case and therefore, the intervenors needed to participate in the lawsuit to make sure it was adjudicated fairly.
“We have been told repeatedly that this settlement was negotiated in the interest of student safety — but truly what safety is there in empowering a group rooted in racism and violence?” Drew said. “As an intervenor who has been harmed by the continued alliance between UNC entities and white supremacy, I understand this settlement completely incentivizes further harm to other communities both inside and outside the 14 counties of the UNC System Institutions.”
The civil rights group also filed a motion to halt any further proceedings in the trial court and any execution of the judgment or disbursement of the $2.5 million settlement funds.
Despite the judge’s ruling, the trial court is scheduled to review additional briefings and hold a hearing on Feb. 12 on whether the SCV had the standing to bring the lawsuit. The intervenors plan to submit a brief on the issue but are not allowed to participate in the hearing.
“The factual circumstances surrounding this case are deeply disturbing: the coordination between the parties, the obvious legal defects in the plaintiff’s claims, the rush to finalize this deal and get the court’s approval before the public knew anything,” Mark Dorosin, a managing attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said in a statement. “We are taking action today because we believe it’s critical to stop where we are and have the appellate court review this matter.”
The Daily Tar Heel files a lawsuit
The Daily Tar Heel is suing the UNC System, its Board of Governors and individual board members over the controversial agreements.
The DTH Media Group argues the $2.5 million settlement and an additional $74,999 payment between the UNC System and the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans were “conceived, negotiated, approved and executed in total secrecy” in violation of North Carolina Open Meetings Law.
The group is asking the court to declare both settlements null and void.
“It was kind of a no-brainer for us with how important Open Meetings Law and open records are for our profession and to holding public bodies like that accountable,” co-editor in chief Emily Siegmund told the News & Observer. “It should be brought to light, and they should be held accountable if they did break that law.”
Questions about SCV finances
As these cases play out in court, the SCV is also accused of violating tax and campaign finance laws.
The Daily Tar Heel, reported that the SCV has been “operating a political action committee in violation of its tax-exempt status and facilitating political donations through illegal means.”
The North Carolina Heritage PAC, the political action committee created by the SCV, has donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates for office since 2016, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.
The PAC has also donated $2,500 to N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger since 2016. Berger and Moore lead the state legislature that appoints members of the UNC Board of Governors, which approved the Silent Sam deal.
The DTH also reported alleged “financial improprieties among the group’s leadership” and connections between members of the SCV and gangs and hate groups.
Some UNC students and faculty have raised concerns about how the SCV will use the $2.5 million, which is nearly 31 times greater than the organization’s expenses in the 2018 fiscal year. They fear the money has made the SCV “a very wealthy white supremacist organization” and will embolden the group to promote their cause.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Efforts to stop Silent Sam deal with Confederate group continue in multiple court cases."
