Seals v. Quarterly County Court of Madison County, Tenn., 73-1673.
Decision Date | 23 April 1974 |
Docket Number | No. 73-1673.,73-1673. |
Citation | 496 F.2d 76 |
Parties | Rev. William SEALS et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The QUARTERLY COUNTY COURT OF MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
William E. Caldwell, Memphis, Tenn., for plaintiffs-appellants; Ratner, Sugarmon & Lucas, Memphis, Tenn., Nathaniel R. Jones, New York City, on brief.
Hewitt P. Tomlin, Jr., Waldrop, Hall, Tomlin & Farmer, Jackson, Tenn., for defendants-appellees.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and WEICK and MILLER, Circuit Judges.
This action was filed by a group of black citizens of Madison County, Tennessee, attacking a plan providing for election from the county at large of all members of the county's governing body, known in Tennessee as the Quarterly County Court.
Approximately 30 per cent of the population of Madison County is black. Plaintiffs assert that the equal protection and voting rights of black citizens guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are violated because the county-wide plan minimizes and cancels out the voting strength of black citizens, denies them effective representation on the Quarterly County Court and discourages them from voting.
Relying upon Whitcomb v. Chavis, 403 U.S. 124, 91 S.Ct. 1858, 29 L.Ed.2d 363 (1971), the District Court held that plaintiffs had failed to carry their burden of showing any constitutional infirmity in the plan. However, the District Court retained the case until six months after the next Quarterly County Court election. Thereafter the action was dismissed with this recitation: "The Court has not heard from any of the parties concerning the matters involved in this cause, nor have we been otherwise apprised of any reason for keeping this file open." Plaintiffs then filed a motion to reopen the case, which was overruled.
Under Tennessee's local government structure, the county legislative body is the Quarterly County Court. This court is composed of magistrates, also known as justices of the peace. Although the judicial functions formerly exercised by justices of the peace now are vested in the local Courts of General Sessions, the members of the Quarterly Court continue to perform many important functions of local government. In The Redistricting Cases, 111 Tenn. 234, 253, 80 S.W. 750 (1903), the Supreme Court of Tennessee said: "It is quite impossible . . . to speak intelligently of our county organizations without bringing into view the county court, the chief organ in the expression of its political, judicial and municipal life." In the same opinion the court quoted with approval an earlier decision describing Quarterly County Courts as "miniature legislatures." 111 Tenn. at 257, 80 S.W. 750.
Traditionally in Tennessee the magistrates constituting the Quarterly County Court have been elected from the civil districts and not from the county at large. Article VI, § 15 of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee provides that "there shall be two Justices of the Peace and one constable elected in each district, by the qualified voters . . ." A similar provision was contained in the Constitution of 1834. This traditional method of election by civil districts was followed in Madison County prior to the time the plan now under attack was adopted by resolution of the Quarterly County Court in 1968.
Under the 1968 resolution the county was redistricted into thirteen county districts, the boundaries of each district, for the purpose of voting, being the same as the boundaries of Madison County. As thus reapportioned, the Quarterly County Court consists of 27 members, one from each of the ten civil districts, 13 from the City of Jackson and four from the county at large. All candidates, even though seeking to represent a particular district or the City of Jackson, must make their races before the voters of the entire county.
Appellants complain that a black candidate, residing in a district that is predominately black, must seek election in a county-wide race where the blacks comprise only 30 per cent of the population.
The county contends that the 1968 plan was not adopted for racial motives, but only for the purpose of redistricting the county in accordance with the requirements of the "one-man, one-vote" principle. Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474, 88 S.Ct. 1114, 20 L.Ed.2d 45 (1968); Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964); Hyden v. Baker, 286 F.Supp. 475 (M.D. Tenn. 1968) (three-judge court). Pursuant to these decisions, the Tennessee Legislature enacted a statute requiring the Quarterly County Courts to reapportion themselves to meet the "one-man, one-vote" principle. Public Acts of 1968, ch. 599.
The District Court said: "While there is no direct evidence that racial considerations were significant in the end result, we must look to other indicia. . . ." This court agrees that the question of the validity of the reapportionment plan must be determined by the end results and practical workings of the at-large system of voting, even if the sponsors of the plan had no racial motives in adopting it.
Among the findings of fact made by the District Court are the following:
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Black Voters v. McDonough
...364 F.Supp. 407 (E.D.Ark.1973), vacated on other grounds, 497 F.2d 895 (8th Cir. 1974). See also Seals v. Quarterly County Court of Madison County, Tennessee, 496 F.2d 76 (6th Cir. 1974). Finally, in Kendrick v. Walder, 527 F.2d 44 (7th Cir. 1975) the Court of Appeals reversed a lower court......
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Seals v. Quarterly County Court of Madison County, Tenn.
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