North Carolina appeals court upholds ruling that kept Confederate monument in place

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina appeals court has upheld a lower-court decision that affirmed a local decision to keep a Confederate monument standing outside a central North Carolina courthouse. A three-judge panel on Tuesday unanimously upheld a trial court judge’s decision to side with Alamance County and its commissioners over the statue at the courthouse in Graham. The NAACP, other groups and individuals sued the county and its leaders in 2021 after the commissioners refused calls to take down what the plaintiffs saw as a symbol of white supremancy. The panel agreed the commissioners lacked authority under a 2015 state law to remove the monument, and that they acted in a constitutional manner.