Why Settle When the Law Already Protects the Monument? And What's the Settlement? (NC)
Settlement to end Tyrrell Confederate monument federal lawsuit
Settlement to end Tyrrell Confederate monument federal lawsuit
(Mitch Kokai, Carolina Journal) - Tyrrell County and a group of black residents have reached a deal to end a federal lawsuit over the Confederate monument sitting outside the county courthouse.
A notice of settlement filed in court Friday offered no details about the deal.
The plaintiffs and defendants “have reached a resolution of this matter,” according to the one-paragraph notice. “The parties are in the process of finalizing and executing the necessary settlement agreement and release. A stipulation of dismissal will be filed as soon as the settlement documents have been fully executed.”
Earlier this year, US Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers rejected Tyrrell County’s request to block depositions from current and former county commissioners.
Numbers issued a February order denying the county’s request for a protective order. Tyrrell’s lawyers had argued that legislative immunity protected commissioners from forced testimony in the case.
“Tyrell County is not entitled to a protective order. Because legislative immunity is personal to the commissioners, the County may not assert the immunity on their behalf,” Numbers wrote in his three-page order.
“The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause affords
