Clark v. MARENGO CTY., Civ. A. No. 77-445-H

• Decision Date: 23 April 1979
• Docket Number: 78-474-H.,Civ. A. No. 77-445-H
• Citation: 469 F. Supp. 1150
• Parties: James CLARK et al., Plaintiffs, v. MARENGO COUNTY et al., Defendants. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. MARENGO COUNTY COMMISSION et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama

469 F. Supp. 1150

James CLARK et al., Plaintiffs, v. MARENGO COUNTY et al., Defendants.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. MARENGO COUNTY COMMISSION et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 77-445-H, 78-474-H.

United States District Court, S. D. Alabama, N. D.

April 23, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

J. L. Chestnut, Jr., Selma, Ala., for plaintiffs in No. 77-445-H.

Hugh A. Lloyd, Demopolis, Ala., for defendants Marengo County Board of Education, et al.

W. A. Kimbrough, Jr., U. S. Atty., Mobile, Ala., Gerald W. Jones, Paul F. Hancock, Sheila K. Delaney, Civ. Rights Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff in No. 78-474-H.

W. W. Dinning, Demopolis, Ala., for defendant J. C. Camp, Chairman of the Marengo County Democratic Exec. Comm.

Edward S. Allen, Birmingham, Ala., for J. Marks Abernathy, Etc.

Cartledge W. Blackwell, Jr., Selma, Ala., for Marengo County, Ala. Commission, et al.

HAND, District Judge.

The first of the above-styled consolidated actions was initiated on August 15, 1977 by the filing of a complaint by Reverend James Clark, Jr., L. O. Hope, Clinton Agee, Teresa McNeal, John Davis, Robert Jones, and Eddie Ayers as purported representatives of a class composed of all black persons in Marengo County, Alabama. The defendants named in this complaint were Marengo County, a political subdivision of the State of Alabama; Sammy Daniels, individually and as Probate Judge of Marengo County; William H. Smith, individually and as Sheriff of Marengo County; Dwayne Sealey, individually and as Clerk of the Marengo County Circuit Court; Frank J. Norris, Jimmy Brame, James E. Edmonds, Grey Etheridge, and D. W. Holt, individually and as members of the Marengo County Board of Revenue; (Marengo County Commission); W. McKee and T. H. Miller, individually and as members of the Marengo County Board of Education; Joseph C. Camp, individually and as chairman of the Marengo County Democratic Executive Committee; and Robert Vance, individually and as chairman of the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee.

For purposes of clarity, Civil Action No. 77-445-H will hereafter be referred to as the class action, while Civil Action No. 78-474-H will be referred to as the enforcement action.

The class action complaint alleged that black voters in Marengo County, Alabama are being deprived of their constitutional rights under the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by virtue of the fact that members of the Marengo County Commission and the Marengo County Board of Education are elected at large, and by virtue of the fact that the Marengo County Democratic Executive Committee is elected from allegedly mal-apportioned, multi-member districts, resulting in dilution or cancellation of black voting strength. The class action plaintiffs request that this Court declare the Acts under which the Marengo County Commission and Board of Education are elected to be unconstitutional, declare the present method of electing County Democratic Executive Committee members to be unconstitutional, and to enjoin the certification of any future elections conducted in such an allegedly improper manner.

Upon a joint request by the parties, the Court allowed a nine month discovery period to and including June 1, 1978. The plaintiffs engaged in absolutely no discovery efforts in this period, which their attorney attributed to lack of finances. The Court notes that interrogatories were filed on the plaintiffs' behalf two months after the close of the discovery period—approximately three months late. The plaintiffs' counsel averred that his efforts had been directed toward securing intervention by the Department of Justice, rather than toward conducting discovery.

On December 9, 1977 the Court dismissed the class action complaint as against defendant Camp and the Marengo County Democratic Executive Committee on the authority of Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214, 72 S.Ct. 654, 96 L.Ed. 852 & 894 (1952), and Ray v. Garner, 257 Ala. 168, 57 So.2d 824 (1952), holding that the election of County Democratic Executive Committee members was within the purview by law of the State Committee. See Ala.Code, § 17-16-8.

The desires of the class action plaintiffs' counsel were finally fulfilled on August 25, 1978, when the Attorney General filed Civil Action No. 78-474-H, the enforcement action. In this suit the United States of America is the plaintiff. The named defendants are the Marengo County Commission and its members as set out above; the Marengo County Board of Education, its members as set out above, and other members Robert Tucker, Wallace Flowers, and Moses Lofton; Marengo County Probate Judge Sammy Daniels; J. C. Camp as chairman of the Marengo County Democratic Executive Committee; and J. Marks Abernathy as chairman of the Marengo County Republican Executive Committee. A recent amendment to the complaint added as defendants Sheriff William H. Smith and Marengo County Circuit Clerk Dwayne Sealey.

The allegations of the enforcement action complaint are identical to those of the class action with respect to the at-large election of the Marengo County Commission and the Marengo County Board of Education, with contentions that such elections have served to dilute or cancel black voting strength in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The government requests that this Court declare the at-large systems employed in the election of both the County Commission and the Board of Education to be violative of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, to enjoin any future such at-large elections, and to require the adoption of an election system employing fairly drawn district lines for the conduct of future elections.

In each of the actions the defendants have denied that any aspect of the electoral system in Marengo County has served to deprive black persons of the right to vote or has cancelled or diluted their voting strength. On August 31, 1978 the Court consolidated the two cases for trial purposes, and the matters came on for trial before the Court in Selma, Alabama, on October 23, 1978, and on January 4, 1979. The Court, having considered the testimony and exhibits adduced at trial, the record in this case, and the arguments and memoranda of law propounded by counsel for all parties, together with the applicable law, finds as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Marengo County, Alabama, is a rural county located in West Central Alabama. It is bordered by Clarke County to the South, Wilcox and Dallas Counties to the East, Perry, Greene, and Hale Counties to the North, and Sumter and Choctaw Counties to the West. In 1950, Marengo County had a population of 29,494, consisting of 9,018 whites (31%), and 20,473 blacks (69%). The population decreased to 27,098 by 1960, with 10,270 whites (37.9%) and 16,828 blacks (62.1%). General Population Characteristics, Alabama, U. S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census, pp. 2-85 (1960) hereinafter 1960 Census. The 1960 Census further reflects that of the 13,895 persons of voting age in Marengo County in 1960 there were 7,791 blacks (56.1%) and 6,104 whites (43.9%). By 1970 the population in Marengo County had declined to 23,819, with 13,157 blacks (55.2%) and 10,662 whites (44.8%). General Population Characteristics, Alabama, U. S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census (1970) hereinafter 1970 Census. The 1970 Census reflects that the voting age population was 14,113, with 7,164 blacks (50.8%) and 6,949 whites (49.2%). These figures indicate an exodus of blacks from Marengo County and a fairly stable white population.

The statistical evidence, as well as this Court's observations, indicates that the Marengo County populace has serious socio-economic shortcomings, especially in the areas of literacy and economy. The 1970 Census figures reveal that 744 of the 11,861 persons of 25 years of age and older had never attended school and that 1,652 of that number had completed only four years of education or less, establishing that 20.2% of the total 1970 population aged 25 years or older had either never attended school or had not completed more than four years of formal education. The same census figures reveal that in 1970 there were 5,905 black persons in Marengo County aged 25 years or older, that 690 of these had never attended school, and that 1486 of these had attended school for four years or less. Thus, the 36.9% of the black population over 25 years of age either never attending school or completing four years or less greatly exceeds the county-wide percentage of 20.2%. The figures further reveal that of the 2,244 Marengo County families who were below the poverty level in 1970, 1,841 (82%) were black, and that while the median income for all families in 1970 was $4,909.00 with a mean income of $6,478.00, the black family's median income was $2,456.00 and its mean income was $3,175.00. General Social and Economic Characteristics, Alabama, Tables 124 & 128, U. S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census (1970). The housing figures from the 1970 Census depict a similar pattern of black poverty. 3,045 (40%) of the 7,341 housing units in Marengo County in 1970 lacked some or all plumbing facilities, and 2,440 (71%) of the 3,357 housing units with black heads of household lacked some or all of such facilities. General Housing Characteristics, Alabama, pp. 2-74, U. S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census (1970). According to a 1976 survey, 2,824 (36%) of the 7,990 housing units in Marengo County were rated "sub-standard." State Housing Plan (June 1976) of the Alabama Development Office (Gov. Exhibit 47). Finally, Census figures reveal that the 1970 per capita income in Marengo County was $1,639.00, while for black persons it was only $722.00 (1970 Census, pp. 2-378 & 2-402).

From the foregoing figures, as well as from the Court's own observations, the Court finds...