Confederate flag owner near Hillsborough loses appeal, plans court fight over rules
The legal fight over a 400-square-foot Confederate battle flag near Hillsborough cleared another hurdle Monday and ended with an altercation in the lobby of the Whitted Building.
The argument broke out after a hearing for Robert “Doug” Hall Jr., who raised his Confederate flag on a 60-foot flagpole along U.S. 70, near the N.C. State Highway Patrol office in Hillsborough.
When flag opponents and supporters congregated in the lobby after the hearing, two women could be heard arguing loudly within a large group of people near the front door.
“Push me again! Push me again!” a woman said. “I’ll knock you the (expletive) out!”
Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies quickly responded, moving the crowd outside. No one was charged, but the people involved in the altercation were referred to the magistrate, Chief Deputy Jamison Sykes said.
Confederate flag fight
Hall raised his flag in April 2018, about a month before the Orange County commissioners voted to limit the size and number of flags that can be flown. The county delayed the rules for a year, and in August 2019, Hall was notified that his flag was in violation.
Hall appealed the decision to the county’s Board of Adjustment, arguing Monday that his flag should remain, in part, because he got a permit for the flagpole and erected it before the rules were changed.
The new rules let residential property owners fly up to three flags — each up to 24 square feet — on a single, 24-foot-tall flagpole. Flagpoles erected prior to the new rules, including Hall’s flagpole, can remain until they fall down or are voluntarily replaced.
Hall’s attorney argued the rules also violate Hall’s constitutional right to freedom of speech. The county applied the rules to all flags, regardless of their content, she said, but public comments indicate Hall’s Confederate flag was the reason for the rules.
However, the Board of Adjustment was only able to consider whether county planning staff members were correct when they found Hall’s flag in violation. The board, noting that Hall agreed the flag was too big, voted 4-0 to support the staff’s decision.
Hall still can appeal the decision to Orange County Superior Court, but any other issues, such as whether the county’s flag rules violate his free speech rights, will have to be decided in a separate lawsuit.
History, hate, discussion
Hall’s attorney Constance Gergen Lowe said she didn’t find any negative economic effects on the county, any accidents caused by the flag’s existence, or any compelling reason for the government to justify creating the rules. Hanging a smaller Confederate flag in its place — or even three smaller flags — would look odd on the tall flagpole, she said, and wouldn’t help allay the fear that some residents expressed about seeing the flag.
“If anything, I think the flag being up would be a great opportunity to engender discussion between people like my client — who is a very well spoken, soft-spoken, kind and caring person — and the people who think the flag is such a hateful thing,” Lowe said.
The neo-Confederate group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County helped Hall to erect the flagpole. Hall said he was inspired to raise the flag because the county “started trying to do away with history” when it removed the words “Confederate Memorial” from the Orange County Historical Museum building in Hillsborough.
The town of Hillsborough made that decision in 2015.
“My land is private property, and I could put a memorial on my private property if they were going to do away with that to remember our history and our ancestors who fought and died,” Hall said.
Courts previously have ruled that governments can limit flag size, but what is printed on a flag — the content — is constitutionally protected free speech that cannot be regulated.
County officials have said, despite a Confederate flag prompting them, the rules do not target the content of any flags. The commissioners said last year they are concerned about public safety and protecting the view of local skylines.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 7:51 AM with the headline "Confederate flag owner near Hillsborough loses appeal, plans court fight over rules."
