Wilson v. Minor

Citation220 F.3d 1297
Decision Date04 August 2000
Docket NumberNo. 99-11145,99-11145
Parties(11th Cir. 2000) DEAN BUTCH WILSON, JOHNNY MIDDLEBROOKS, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ERSKINE MINOR, PERRY VARNER, ROY MOORE, CURTIS WILLIAMS, KIMBROUGH BALLARD, in their official capacity as Dallas County Commissioners, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Before CARNES, BARKETT and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.

MARCUS, Circuit Judge:

Defendants the Dallas County Commission, various county officials,1 and the United States appeal the district court's order vacating its 1988 injunction which established a new election scheme2 for the County Commission of Dallas County, Alabama as a remedy for a violation of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The district court found that the 1988 injunction changed the size of the County Commission and was therefore an impermissible remedy for a voting rights violation in light of recent Supreme Court and Eleventh Circuit precedent. Because the district court did not clearly err in finding that the 1988 injunction changed the size of the County Commission, and because the law prohibiting changes in the size of a governing body in order to remedy a section 2 violation is plain, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in vacating the 1988 injunction and affirm its order.

I.

The facts underlying this case are reasonably straightforward although the case has had a protracted procedural history. Prior to 1978, the Dallas County Commission was composed of four commissioners elected from at-large residency districts to concurrent four year terms. Dallas County commissioners served, and continue to serve, in a part-time capacity. The Dallas County probate judge acted as the chairperson of the Commission in an ex officio capacity.3 The probate judge held a full-time position and was elected at-large to six year terms. In his capacity as the ex officio chairperson of the Commission, the probate judge presided over Commission meetings but, notably, voted only in the event of a tie among the four commissioners.4 See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 850 F.2d 1430, 1432 (11th Cir. 1988). In his capacity as probate judge, the probate judge also had authority to vote with the Commission in filling certain local office vacancies. See Act No. 196, 1949 Ala. Acts 227; Act No. 197, 1949 Ala. Acts 228; Jones v. Dallas County, No. 92-6104 (11th Cir. Jan. 6, 1993) (holding that the 1988 injunction did not preclude the probate judge from continuing to vote to fill the position of Dallas County tax collector in accordance with Act No. 197).

In 1978, the United States challenged the at-large method of electing members to the Dallas County Commission under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1973, on the grounds that the at-large elections diluted the strength of black voters. See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 548 F. Supp. 875, 877 (S.D. Ala. 1982), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, vacated and remanded, 739 F.2d 1529 (11th Cir. 1984). In 1982, the district court held that the at-large method of electing county commissioners did not violate section 2 because the United States had not proved that the statute under which the at-large method of election was established was motivated by discriminatory intent or that it diluted black voting strength in Dallas County. See Dallas County Comm'n. 548 F. Supp. at 919. We affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the case to the district court with specific instructions to consider the role of racially polarized voting and the lingering effects of discrimination in Dallas County. See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 739 F.2d 1529 (11th Cir. 1984). On remand, the district court found that the at-large election scheme for the Dallas County Commission diluted minority voting strength in violation of section 2. See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 636 F. Supp. 704, 710 (S.D. Ala. 1986).

To remedy the section 2 violation, the district court ordered the county to adopt an election scheme that created four single- member districts. The district court retained the probate judge, still elected at-large, as the ex officio chairperson of the Commission. See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 661 F. Supp. 955, 958-59 (S.D. Ala. 1987). We again reversed holding that the continued inclusion of the at-large elected probate judge as the ex officio chairperson of the Commission did not fully cure the Commission's section 2 violation. See United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 850 F.2d 1430, 1432 (11th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1030, 109 S.Ct. 1768, 104 L.Ed.2d 203 (1989). We ordered Dallas County to adopt a five single- member districting plan for the County Commission with the chairperson of the Commission to be chosen from among the five commissioners. Id. See also United States v. Dallas County Comm'n, 850 F.2d 1433 (11th Cir. 1988) (describing the Lichtman plan).

The plan established two districts containing black voter majorities of 72.4 percent and 70 percent, two districts containing white voter majorities of 65 percent and 64 percent, and a fifth swing district containing a black voter majority of 61.3 percent. See Dallas County Comm'n, 850 F.2d at 1440. The plan required that the Commission be composed of five full members5 serving the same term of four years and with the same full voting rights. The probate judge no longer served as the ex officio chairperson of the Commission; he no longer presided over meetings and did not vote in the event of a tie.6 However, the probate judge retained authority to vote with the other commissioners when filling certain vacancies in local office just as he had prior to the 1988 injunction. See Jones, No. 92-6104 (11th Cir. Jan. 6, 1993). In short, the injunction replaced the role of the probate judge as ex officio chairperson of the Commission with a full commissioner elected specifically to that position. The role of the probate judge as probate judge, however, remained intact. On July 13, 1988, the district court directed that the election of the Dallas County Commission be conducted pursuant to the Eleventh Circuit's plan.7

On October 25, 1996, Plaintiffs Dean Butch Wilson and Johnny Middlebrooks, white residents of Dallas County, Alabama, filed suit against the Dallas County Commission, various county officials, and the United States alleging that the court- ordered election scheme changed the size of the County Commission and was, therefore, an improper remedy for a section 2 violation. Specifically, Plaintiffs argued that the removal of the probate judge as ex officio chairperson of the County Commission and the creation of a fifth full commissioner, with the same voting rights and serving the same term of years as the other commissioners, changed the size of the Commission from four members (plus the probate judge acting as chairperson in an ex officio capacity) to five full members. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief from the court-ordered plan. Plaintiffs also alleged that the districting plan then in place violated section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because it had not been precleared, and that the 1988 injunction violated the Tenth Amendment. On October 17, 1997, Plaintiffs amended their Complaint to add claims alleging that the 1988 injunction violated the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.

The district court conducted a four day bench trial in May 1998. On March 29, 1999, the district court entered judgment for the Plaintiffs. The court held that the 1988 injunction "impermissibly altered the size" of the Dallas County Commission and was "both illegal and unjustified under the applicable law as well as the circumstances of this case." Order at 3. The court terminated the 1988 injunction and ordered the development and implementation of a four single-member district plan. The district court also ordered the probate judge to resume his position as chairman ex officio with the sole duties of presiding over the Commission's meetings and casting a vote in the event of a tie. Both the County Commission and the United States appealed the district court's order.8

II.

We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error, and we review its conclusions of law de novo. See Dekalb County School District v. Schrenko, 109 F.3d 680, 687 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 117 S.Ct. 79 (1996). The decision to modify an injunction is subject to an abuse of discretion standard, and it is an abuse of discretion to fail to make modifications required by applicable law. See Ensley Branch, NAACP v. Seibels, 31 F.3d 1548, 1563 (11th Cir. 1994); Godfrey v. Bell South Telecomm., Inc., 89 F.3d 755, 757 (11th Cir. 1996).

A.

As an initial matter, the Defendants argue that the district court improperly allowed the Plaintiffs to challenge the 1988 injunction through an independent action rather than requiring them to intervene in the action in which the judgment was entered. The Defendants argue that because the Plaintiffs are trying to amend a judgment issued in a previous case, they should be forced to seek relief from the same court that entered the original judgment. Indeed, as a general matter, intervention pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 24 is the appropriate way for an outsider with an interest in an existing lawsuit to come in as a party. See 7C Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d § 1901, at 228 (1986). Intervention in the original action is also generally the proper mechanism for a nonparty to seek relief from an existing judgment. See 11 Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d § 2863, at 350 (1995); see also Hines v. Rapides Parish School Board, 479 F.2d 762, 765 (5th Cir. 1973) (holding that "the proper course...

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