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11 September 2001
On September 11th 2001 Moslem terrorists attacked New York a northern state and then proceeded to attack Virginia a Southern state causing the deaths of thousands of Yankee and Southern Americans. These attacks united all Americans and in the process basically killed the Southern Secessionist Movement. The Southern Party of North Carolina and the Southern Party of Catawba county have both closed up shop. The SPNC.org has taken down their website but we have decided to keep our SPNC.net on line for informational and historical purposes. If you have any questions you can send an e-mail to Pat Bridges: spnc@bellsouth.net
Confederate Flag raised
over local Post Office
Southern Nationalists celebrate 4th
of July in Lincoln county
By John Singleton
Southern Partisans Press
VALE, NC. July, 04, 2001
Early this morning as the residents of this sleepy town awoke to
celebrate Independence Day they were soon to discover that
members of the Southern Partisans, a radical Confederate
seperatist organisation, had already began their celebration a
little early. But not in the way most folks do, no Stars and
Stripes or singing of the "Star Spangled Banner". They
had their own way and that was by raising the third national flag
of the Confederate States of America over the only federal
building in town just as they reportedly did in Wimberly, Texas
last July.
Just down the road from Dixie Lane on Reepsville Road is the United States Post office, what an odd sight it was for joggers and those driving by to see that Confederate banner flying from the flag pole, especially on the most patriotically celebrated day in America. It is a manifestation of the times where the struggle between regional pride and one worldism is coming to a head. In this neck of the woods and I'm referring to Dixie, there is actually a life and death struggle to preserve what is left of the South. Is it any wonder that so many Southerners are turning to Southern Nationalism? Should we be surprised to see expressions of that Southern Nationalism on the flagpoles of federal buildings?
These Southern Nationalists at least don't blow up mailboxes as the nationalists in Quebec did in the 60's and 70's, they're not out to hurt people or destroy property only to capture the hearts, admiration and imaginations of the Southern people and maybe get a few of them off their butts to stand up for Dixie like these Southern Partisans have done this Independence Day. God bless 'em.
CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
John Singleton can be reached at mosb@www.com
Judge: Commissioners violated Open Meetings
Law
Many violations were merely technical mistakes,
Noble says
By BRYAN BLISS
Hickory Daily Record Staff Writer
NEWTON - A concerned citizens group was somewhat victorious in Newton Superior Court Tuesday after a judge ruled certain Catawba County meeting transcripts should be made public record.
The Concerned Citizens of Lake Norman, a group that opposes putting a sewage treatment plant in the Sherrills Ford area, called into question county commissioners’ closed sessions.
Saying Catawba County Commissioners were in violation of the Open Meetings Law, Judge Oliver Noble delivered a prepared statement outlining 12 county commission meetings in which members adjourned into closed session for discussion.
Noble said many of the violations were merely technical mistakes.
“We need more time to look at the order,” said Robert Eades, county attorney. “The important thing is the great bulk of the review found no violations (by the commissioners). My understanding is some of these violations were unintentional because they were technical mistakes.”
Eades would not comment on what the county’s next step will be, but said (the county) will give full attention to the judge’s instructions.
Noble ordered the formerly sealed information to be disclosed into public record by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Furthermore, Noble said when commissioners move into closed sessions in the future, they should carefully obey the portion of North Carolina General Statute section 143-118(c) requiring them to cite the purposes of the meeting. The county will also have to pay a portion of the group’s legal costs, the judge ruled.
The disclosed portions revealed commissioners did not discuss the proposed water treatment plant in any of the closed sessions.
In fact, much of the discussion centered around another Catawba County issue.
Catawba County and the city of Newton, in a 1996 contract and 1998 addendum, agreed to work together on providing water service to residents in the Sherrills Ford area. Every closed session, except for one, dealt with that project.
“It is important for us to realize that a bulk of the material that the judge ruled on showed that in no way were the closed sessions dealing with inappropriate information,” said Marie Huffman, county commission chairwoman. “I was surprised by the ruling because I didn’t know that we had done something illegal.”
Huffman said she would respect the decision of the court, adding the commissioners didn’t intend to violate any aspect of the law.
According to Huffman, general statutes require commissioners to be fined up to $500 a piece when any type of violation is found.
“I thought the findings of the court followed the law and basic democratic principles,” said Forrest Ferrell, attorney for Concerned Citizens of Lake Norman. “Our clients were pleased because they support the open government policy, except for the limited reasons when information needs to be sealed.”
In this case, Noble said there was no reason not to seal other documents he found that did not have any violations: Ferrell did not object to this decision in court.
Members of CCLN who were present in court Tuesday reiterated the feelings of Ferrell.
“We are pleased with the fact that (the commissioners) can’t use the attorney-client privilege for closed session,” said member Pam Carter. “I am pleased with the amount of work the judge put into this case.”
However, members were pleased with more than the work Noble put into their case.
“CCLN spent over $30,000 on legal fees,” said Judy Collins, the legal committee chairwoman of the group. “The members should get a percentage of the fees back from the county.”
Collins also said this “win” will give CCLN a better position in future dealings with the commissioners.
“The key thing is (the commissioners) will know they have to provide more information about what they are discussing in closed meetings,” said CCLN attorney Richard Gaskins Jr. “This ruling proves the little guy can go up against and win at City Hall.”
Reach Bryan Bliss at 322-4510, Ext. 248 or bbliss@hickoryrecord.com. • Staff writer Vicki Greene contributed to this report.
"Technical mistakes" Robert Eades said. Well we say "that's a crock". The county commissioners have being doing this kind of secret business for years, going behind the backs of the citizens of this county and doing what they darn well please.
They're afraid to have open meetings when it comes to certain issues because they know what they are doing is against the will of the people. It's almost as if they are saying " Now that we're in, you the people of Catawba county no longer count and we'll do what the heck we want ".
Let's hope that with this judge's decision these arrogant commissioners will think twice before having another secret session. You can be sure that no member of the SPNC if elected or appointed to an office would act in such an underhanded and deceitful manner.
ACLU
Targets Catawba County's Christian Cross
Courtesy of the Asheville Tribune
NEWTON -- The American Civil Liberties
Union is threatening to sue Catawba County over the county's
official seal which includes a Christian Cross with a cow, torch
and a wheel. Commission Chairman Bob Hibbitts says the seal
and the cross are symbols of the county's history, not an
endorsement of a particular religion. Federal judges have
ruled similar symbols in other states unconstitutional.
Hibbitts says German Lutherans settled Catawba County and the
cross represents that history.
Catawba
County Responds To The ACLU's Attack On Our Cross
Courtesy
of the Hickory Daily Record
NEWTON
- 8.07.2000 More than 400 Catawba County residents packed the
1924 Courthouse in Newton Monday to see if the Catawba County
Board of Commissioners would stand by the county seal and its
symbols.They were not disappointed.
The board voted unanimously to refuse demands by the American Civil Liberties Union that a cross one of four symbols that have been part of the county seal since it was adopted in 1925 be removed. The ACLU of North Carolina contends the seal violates guarantees of separation of church and state in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Shouts of joy and relief rang through the courtroom as the audience rose to its feet and applauded the action of the board members seated beneath a three-foot replica of the seal.
Resident Shirley Sherrill said she was “very pleased” the commissioners took strong action.
“I just hope the good Lord will bless this and help us keep what we've got,” she said.
Commissioner Steve Ikerd said large numbers of residents have voiced support, some even saying they are willing to pay higher taxes to fund the county's defense in a lawsuit.
“Thanks for doing what is right instead of what is politically correct,” said Ed Young, pastor of Woodland Baptist Church. “We will stand behind you all the way to the Supreme Court if that's what it takes. This is a gross misrepresentation of our civil rights. The ACLU is hypocritical. (They say they are) advocates of civil rights and then come to a small, God-fearing county and try to take away a symbol of our heritage. I respectfully ask the ACLU to leave us alone and go home. The cross they fight against today will one day be their judge.”
The ACLU has not decided what action to take, as it was waiting to see how the commission would react, according to ACLU- NC executive/legal director Deborah Ross.
Chairman Robert Hibbitts told the crowd the county had learned the ACLU sent letters to certain county residents asking that someone step forward to serve as a plaintiff.
“This solicitation from outside our borders begs the question is there really someone within our county who is oppressed by this historical symbol?” Hibbitts said. “Does anyone really believe we have attempted to establish a county religion? If there is oppression or discrimination implied by this seal, why has this not been brought to our attention for remedy by a citizen? Or more to the point, why has this individual not brought this to our attention prior to the ACLU's solicitation?”
The burst of applause following Hibbitt's statement bordered on ear-shattering.
The ACLU denies it solicited for a potential plantiff. According to Ross, the ACLU- NC has received several phone calls and a written complaint. After receiving these complaints, the organization sent a letter to ACLU local members to “gauge the level of concern” in the area, Ross said.
“We didn't know about the seal until somebody came to us and complained,” Ross said.
At the meeting, Hibbitts continued, paus ing periodically to allow those in attendance to respond to his comments with “Amen,” “Yes,” “That's right,” and standing ovations.
“The seal crafted some 75 years ago represents the heritage of this county,” said Hibbitts. “The values of education, commerce, agriculture, and yes, religion, are represented on its face by various symbols. The prevailing faith of the founders of this county was Christian. As such, the cross is appropriately displayed as the representation of religion. To deny this fact is to try to revise history.”
To make his point, Hibbitts asked if references to God should be stricken from the Declaration of Independence.
“No!” the crowd responded in unison.
“Any forced change would be a desecration of the seal,” said Hibbitts. “This commission should not and will not be a part of any sanctioned denial of history.” Hibbitts remarked that some courts have ruled government seals with crosses violate the First Amendment, but said sometimes the courts can be wrong.
“Our history is clear and certainly today this county embraces people of all faiths, creeds and backgrounds. We are diverse, yet unified,” said Hibbitts. “We should not condone a sellout of our heritage. On the contrary, united we should fight for it. And united we should say no to the outside interference of the ACLU. Say 'no' to forces seeking to divide our community and say 'yes' to the hundreds and thousands of citizens who hold the values of their heritage near and dear to their hearts. I believe we cannot forsake the values of those who have gone before us and we urge our fellow Catawabans to fight for what is right.”
After the applause lessened, County Attorney Robert Eades explained the risks of the board's decision. He said the board, and each individual board member, could be named defendants in the case. Resolution of the case could take around four or five years, Eades said.
Ross said she has known some of the ACLU's cases to take months and some to take years and as for individuals being named in a lawsuit, that part of it would depend on their personal and professional actions in regards to the seal.
The case will focus on the interpretation of the “establishment clause,” which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The ACLU has written the Supreme Court's interpretation of the clause acts to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience by, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, erecting a “wall of separation between Church and State.”
said in 1863, the ratification of the 14th Amendment made the “establishment clause” applicable to local governments as well as Congress. The courts since then have spent a lot of time trying to understand the implications of this clause to counties, cities and states.
it is hard to know why it allows Congress to open its sessions with prayer and denies the opportunity to school students for opening their day in prayer,” said Eades.
county's good faith position on the county seal issue is defendable, Eades said, although the county is not assured victory. He said his goal and the goals of the two assistant county attorneys, Jerry Hess and Debra Nass Bechtel, will be to “defend the truth of history, not claim one faith over another.” The seal is a historic symbol, with the cross, torch, cow and wheel making sense in relation to each other, Eades said.
“Is the county seal a real threat or a mere shadow?” Eades asked. “I think it is a mere shadow.” Reach Vicki Greene at 322-4510, Ext. 249 or vgreene@piedmontpublishing.com .
City editor Margarita Venegas contributed to this report.
Monday, October 9, 2000 North Carolina
A Butler High School senior returned to school Monday after being suspended one day for displaying the Confederate flag in the rear window of her pickup truck.
Seventeen-year-old Amanda Williams was suspended Friday for refusing to cover the flag, which is part of the tinted window design, as Principal Joel Ritchie told her to do.
On Monday, she returned to class with a handwritten posterboard propped up on her truck to cover the flag design. It read: "My student rights are being violated. Are yours?"
Her suspension paperwork said Williams had to leave school because the flag design "has no educational purpose, and may distract from teaching and learning," according to her mother, Susan.
Williams was also penalized for "failing to obey the principal's directive while on school property."
Nora Carr, spokeswoman for the school district, said Butler students had voiced concerns to Ritchie about the flag's presence, and that Ritchie had asked Williams and her parents to remove it.
Carr said the flag violates a conduct rule under the district's "Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook." The rule states that a conduct violation includes "possession of any object that could disrupt the normal order of school to include but not limited to personal security alarms, look-a-like beepers, etc."
Carr said latitude is given to principals to determine what falls under that rule.
"It says anything that can be disruptive to the learning environment. (Williams' flag) would certainly fall within that."
But the Williams family doesn't see it that way, and hopes that the school will eventually let Amanda park her truck with the flag design uncovered. "To me, it means Southern pride and heritage," Amanda Williams said. "And it's not racism, not at all. I don't think it's right that I have to cover it up."
Susan Williams said her daughter hasn't heard other students complain about the flag - and believes if students had an issue with it, they would approach her about it. "This is heritage for her. If a student wants to put a Malcolm X sticker in his window, that's their freedom," Susan Williams said.
Carr said it's impossible to say what other scenarios would be considered a violation of the rules. "It would really be on a school-by-school, student-by-student basis."
In the meantime, Susan Williams said her daughter will continue to use her poster to cover the $100 window tint design - but she hopes that will change. "We're actually hoping that we can resolve this and she can keep it."
Updated: 9/16/01