Hinton v. Threet

• Decision Date: 23 February 1968
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 4565.
• Citation: 280 F. Supp. 831
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee
• Parties: T. Earl HINTON et al. v. James THREET et al.

280 F. Supp. 831

T. Earl HINTON et al. v. James THREET et al.

Civ. A. No. 4565.

United States District Court M. D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

February 23, 1968.

Henry Denmark Bell, Nashville, Tenn., for plaintiffs.

William T. Sellers, Murfreesboro, Tenn., for defendants.

OPINION

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Chief Judge.

This is an action for a declaratory judgment that the Quarterly County Court of Rutherford County, Tennessee, as presently constituted, is so malapportioned as to violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Injunctive relief is also sought directing the defendants to put into effect a redistricting plan enacted by the 1967 Tennessee General Assembly. Plaintiffs in this cause are citizens and registered voters of the 13th Civil District of Rutherford County, Tennessee. Defendant James Threet is County Judge and Chairman of the Rutherford County Quarterly Court. Other defendants are the justices or members of the Quarterly County Court.

The Quarterly Court of Rutherford County, under various statutory provisions, has been given the power to levy taxes, fix the rate of taxation, borrow money, issue bonds, determine the county budget, and appropriate money for school and highway construction and other county purposes. Also, under Tennessee Code § 5-111 the General Assembly has given the Quarterly County Courts authority to redistrict themselves, and under the 1953 Home Rule Amendment to Article 11, § 9 of the Tennessee Constitution, any private act of the General Assembly affecting a particular county must, to become effective, be ratified either by a two-thirds vote of the Quarterly County Court or by a majority of those voting in an election to be held in said county. This amendment substantially reduced the unilateral power formerly held by the General Assembly over local affairs of the counties.

The framework for the districting of Quarterly County Courts is set forth in the Tennessee Constitution, Article 6, § 15:

The different Counties of this State shall be laid off, as the General Assembly may direct, into districts of convenient size, so that the whole number in each County shall not be more than twenty-five * * *. There shall be two Justices of the Peace * * * elected in each district by the qualified voters therein, except districts including County towns, which shall elect three Justices * * *. The Legislature shall have power to provide for the appointment of an additional number of Justices of the Peace in incorporated towns.

Pursuant to these constitutional provisions, the General Assembly has enacted the following statutory provisions:

Tenn. Code § 19-101 — For every incorporated town, one (1) justice is to be elected by the qualified voters therein.

Tenn. Code § 19-102 — For each district of every county, except those districts including county or incorporated towns, two (2) justices of the peace shall be elected by the qualified voters therein.

Tenn. Code § 19-103 — For every other district in the state which includes a county town, three (3) justices of the peace may be elected by the qualified voters therein.

The Tennessee General Assembly, apparently by private act,¹ has divided Rutherford County into twenty-five civil districts which elect two justices of the peace each. The 13th Civil District embraces the City of Murfreesboro and elects two additional justices, one because Murfreesboro is an incorporated town and the other because Murfreesboro is the county seat. The 13th Civil District thus has a total of four justices of the peace. The 3d and 8th Civil Districts embrace the incorporated towns of Smyrna and Eagleville respectively, and each, therefore, elects an additional justice, giving those districts a total of three justices each. The total number of justices composing the Rutherford County Quarterly Court and carrying out the functions enumerated above is fifty-four. The representation on the Quarterly Court varies from one justice for every 2,483 registered voters for the 13th Civil District to one justice for every forty-nine registered voters for the 2d Civil District.² Expressed differently, the 13th Civil District with 46.7 per cent of the registered voter population has a representation of 7.4 per cent on the Quarterly County Court.

The plaintiffs first filed their complaint with the Court on October 14, 1966, setting forth the facts stated above and alleging that they as registered voters in the 13th Civil District are being deprived of equal protection of the law. The plaintiffs contend that the voting strength of persons in the less populated civil districts is arbitrarily exalted and that the plan of civil districting is invidiously discriminatory to them and other voters in the more populous civil districts. Plaintiffs further assert that a fair and constitutional plan of redistricting has been prepared by a committee appointed by defendants for that purpose but that the defendants have refused to put this plan into effect. The plaintiffs insist that there is no hope of the Quarterly County Court itself taking any action which would remedy the existing inequities.

The defendants by their answer admit that the malapportionment exists but assert that they do desire to correct the situation. Because the defendants had by resolution requested the Tennessee General Assembly to use the recommendations of defendants' committee and provide a plan of redistricting on the "one man, one vote" basis, the defendants asked that no injunctive relief be ordered. In compliance with this request, the Court by order entered March 2, 1966, deferred action until the 1967 Tennessee General Assembly had had an opportunity to enact a constitutional plan of redistricting.

During its 1967 session the General Assembly enacted Chapter 113 of the 1967 Private Acts of Tennessee providing for the redistricting of the Rutherford County Quarterly Court. Pursuant to the Home Rule Amendment to the Tennessee Constitution, Chapter 113 provides, however, that it shall have no effect unless approved by a two-thirds vote of the Rutherford County Quarterly Court. Chapter 113 further provides that upon approval by the Quarterly County Court the Election Commission shall call an election within ninety days for the purpose of electing justices on the basis of the new plan.

At its regular session in July, 1967, the Quarterly County Court deferred action on Chapter 113. In October it refused for a second time to take action on the redistricting act. Consequently, on October 18, 1967, the plaintiffs entered a motion for summary judgment as provided for by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The plaintiffs contend that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiffs ask for an injunction directing the defendants to put into effect the redistricting plan contained in Chapter 113.

Plaintiffs' motion was heard before the Court on October 30, 1967, at which time defendants once again represented to the Court that they did intend to correct the existing malapportionment and that they would take action to effectuate the statutory plan of Chapter 113. Because of the situation with regard to school board redistricting in Rutherford County, the defendants asserted that this action would be taken on or before December 31, 1967.

On December 7, 1967, plaintiffs submitted a supplemental affidavit to the Court stating that on December 4, 1967, the defendants called a special session of the Rutherford County Quarterly Court for the purpose, among other things, of considering Chapter 113. At this special session the Quarterly County Court rejected the proposed redistricting act by a vote of thirty to twenty. Nothing further has been brought to the attention of the Court to indicate that the defendants effectuated a plan of redistricting within the time represented to the Court, or that they have done so since.³

The first question to be considered is whether a single judge or a three-judge district court is the proper tribunal to render a decision in this case.⁴ Defendants assert that 28 U.S.C.A. § 2281 requires the convening of a three-judge court.

For a three-judge court to be convened a state statute or administrative order must be challenged, a state officer must be a party defendant, injunctive relief must be sought, and it must be claimed that the statute is contrary to the Federal Constitution. 28 U.S.C.A. § 2281. If all four of these prerequisites are present, then a three-judge panel is required and a single district judge does not have jurisdiction to decide the case on the merits. Stratton v. St. Louis S.W. Ry., 282 U.S. 10, 51 S. Ct. 8, 75 L.Ed. 135 (1930). If any one of the four prerequisites is not present, then a three-judge court is not required and the case is to be disposed of by a single district judge.

In determining whether a state statute is being challenged, Supreme Court decisions have consistently held that the statute must be of general and statewide application before it is necessary to convene a three-judge court. This rule was first enunciated in Ex parte Collins, 277 U.S. 565, 48 S.Ct. 585, 72 L.Ed. 990 (1928), where the plaintiff sought to enjoin a city from proceeding under a municipal resolution that directed the paving of a particular street. The plaintiff asserted that the state statute which authorized such action was unconstitutional. The Court held that although the constitutionality of a state statute was challenged, the suit involved only matters of interest to a particular municipality and that, therefore, it was not necessary that a three-judge court be convened. This rule has also been applied in a case where the state statute extended only to one drainage district. Rorick v. Bd. of Comm'rs., 307 U.S. 208, 59 S.Ct. 808, 83 L.Ed. 1242 (1939). And in Griffin v. School Board, 377 U.S. 218, (1964), a state statute on its face applied to all...