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Winston-Salem confederate statue debate makes in front of the state supreme court

The city and the United Daughters of the Confederacy disagree about who owns the statue.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A rekindled debate over a Triad confederate monument made its way to our state Supreme Court Monday.

The statue that used to sit outside the old Winston-Salem Courthouse came down three years ago and has been in storage ever since.

Attorneys for the City of Winston-Salem and the United Daughters of the Confederacy went head-to-head during oral arguments in front of the state's justices.

The two sides disagree about who owns the statue and where it should stand.

The city has no plans to take it out of storage without an owner.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy first filed suit in 2019 because it wanted the statue back up.

The UDC's attorney, James Davis, argued it's possible the organization owns the statue because the city told the group it did.

Initially, the city wrote a letter to the UDC asking them to take it down. The city ended up removing the statue on its own when the organization didn't.

"The city acted without judicial process," Davis said. "They came in and grabbed the monument and put it in storage and then asked the court to make us go away, saying we had not an interest in this property."

City Attorney Angela Carmon said the city didn't need to go through that process because the owner of the land the statue sat on also wanted it removed.

For some background, the old courthouse grounds where the monument sat for more than a hundred years had been converted into private apartments.

Carmon said the letter was sent as a courtesy because the UDC claimed previously that it owned the statue.

"The private property owner who agreed, who expressed safety concerns and said, 'Please remove this monument. My residents are calling the police, they're calling me. They are afraid of what's occurring right outside their bedroom windows," Carmon said.

The case is now in the hands of the state's seven justices. It could take months before there is a final decision.

The UDC wants to put the statue back up on the old courthouse grounds if it's granted ownership.

The city said it wants the statue moved to a different location. Previously, Mayor Joines mentioned Salem Cemetery, since there are confederate soldiers buried there.

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