Removal of Confederate monument ordered

“In accord with the original correspondence of the Court on this matter, attached hereto as Exhibit A and made a part hereof, and the response of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, hereafter ‘The Board,’ attached hereto as Exhibit B and made a part hereof, and in an effort to maintain clarity and continuity in this process, and further as the Court speaks only through its orders, this Order is entered.

“The Court is charged with the administration of justice. In this instance, the Court certifies that the continued presence of the confederate monument, in its present location on Roanoke County property, and with its present content, obstructs the proper administration of justice in the Roanoke County Courthouse, the same is ORDERED.

“Consequently, either the Court must be removed to an appropriate location or the monument must be removed during the operation of Court, the Court so finds, and the same is ORDERED.

“The lesser hardship of these two options is the removal of the confederate monument, particularly as Roanoke College has consented to undertake the financial costs of such removal, the Court so finds and the same is ORDERED. The Court further finds that any inconvenience in accomplishing this goal is small compared to the rights involved in the administration of justice, the same is ORDERED.

“The Court further finds, as set out more completely in Exhibits A and B, that The Board would prefer to address this issue, pursuant to law governing the scope and manner of The Board doing so, a conclusion with which the Court concurs, the same is ORDERED.

“Consequently, the Court defers taking any other formal action in this matter until 2 January, 2022, unless addressed by intervening court order, the same is ORDERED.”

Re: Confederate Monument on Roanoke County Property Adjacent to the Roanoke County Courthouse, July 8, 2021, Roanoke County Circuit Court (Dorsey) (Order). VLW 021-8-097, 10 pp.