Chisom v. Edwards

• Decision Date: 10 July 1987
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 86-4075.
• Parties: Ronald CHISOM, et al., v. Edwin EDWARDS, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana

659 F. Supp. 183

Ronald CHISOM, et al., v. Edwin EDWARDS, et al.

Civ. A. No. 86-4075.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

May 1, 1987.

As Amended July 10, 1987.

William P. Quigley, Ron Wilson, Roy Rodney, New Orleans, La., C. Lani Guinier, Pamela S. Karlan, New York City, for plaintiffs.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Eavelyn T. Brooks, Asst. Atty. Gen., Louisiana Dept. of Justice, M. Truman Woodward, Jr., Black G. Arata, A.R. Christovich, Moise W. Dennery, New Orleans, La., for defendants.

OPINION

CHARLES SCHWARTZ, Jr., District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendants' motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For the foregoing reasons, defendants' motion is GRANTED.

FACTS AND ALLEGATIONS

Ronald Chisom, four other black plaintiffs and the Louisiana Voter Registration Education Crusade filed this class action suit on behalf of all blacks registered to vote in Orleans Parish. Plaintiffs' complaint challenges the process of electing Louisiana Supreme Court Justices from the First District of the State Supreme Court. The complaint alleges that the system of electing two at-large Supreme Court Justices from the Parishes of Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1973 et seq., the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the United States Federal Constitution and, finally, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs argue that the election system impermissibly dilutes, minimizes and cancels the voting strength of blacks who are registered to vote in Orleans Parish.

More specifically, plaintiffs' original and amended complaint avers that the First Supreme Court District of Louisiana contains approximately 1,102,253 residents of which 63.36%, or 698,418 are white, and 379,101, or 34.4% are black. The First Supreme Court District has 515,103 registered voters, of which 68% are white, and 31.61% are black. Plaintiffs contend that the First Supreme Court District of Louisiana should be divided into two single districts. Plaintiffs suggest that because Orleans Parish's present population is 555,515 persons, roughly half the present First Supreme Court District, the most logical division is to have Orleans Parish elect one Supreme Court Justice and the Parishes of Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemine together elect the other Supreme Court Justice. If plaintiffs' plan were to be carried out, plaintiffs contend the present First Supreme Court District encompassing only Orleans Parish would then have a black population and voter registration comprising a majority of the district's population. More specifically, plaintiffs assert presently 124,881 of the registered voters in Orleans are white, comprising 47.9% of the plaintiffs' proposed district's voters; while 134,492 of the registered voters in Orleans are now black, comprising 51.6% of the envisioned district's voters. The other district comprised of Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes and would have a substantially greater white population than black, according to plaintiffs' plan.

Plaintiffs seek class certification of approximately 135,000 black residents of Orleans Parish, whom plaintiffs allege suffer from diluted voting strength as a result of the present at-large election system. Additionally, plaintiffs seek a preliminary and permanent injunction against the defendants restraining the further election of Justices for the First Supreme Court District until this Court makes a determination on the merits of plaintiffs' challenge. Further, plaintiffs seek an order requiring defendants to reapportion the First Louisiana Supreme Court in a manner which "fairly recognizes the voting strengths of minorities in the New Orleans area and completely remedies the present dilution of minority voting strength." (Plaintiffs' Complaint, p. 7). Plaintiffs also seek an order requiring compliance with the Voting Rights Act and, finally, a declaration from this Court that the Supreme Court election system violates the Voting Rights Act and the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Federal Constitution.¹

Defendants do not dispute the figures presented by plaintiffs in their amended complaint. Instead, they contend that section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the United States Federal Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 fail to provide plaintiffs grounds upon which relief can be granted for plaintiffs' allegation of diluted black voting strength.

SECTION 2 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 DOES NOT APPLY TO THE INSTANT ACTION

Prior to 1982, section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1973), "Denial or Abridgment of Rights to Vote on Account of Race or Color Through Voting Qualifications or Prerequisites," read as follows:

No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure, shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 1973b(f)(2) of this title.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was amended as a response to City of Mobile, Alabama v. Bolden, 446 U.S. 55, 100 S.Ct. 1490, 64 L.Ed. 47 (1980), in which the Supreme Court in a plurality opinion held to establish a violation of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, minority voters must prove the contested electoral mechanism was intentionally adopted or maintained by state officials for a discriminatory purpose. After Bolden, Congress in 1982 revised section 2 to make clear that a violation of the Voting Rights Act could be proven by showing a discriminatory effect or result alone. United States v. Marengo County Commission, 731 F.2d 1546 n. 1 (11th Cir. 1984), appeal dismissed, cert. denied, 469 U.S. 976, 105 S.Ct. 375, 83 L.Ed.2d 311 (1984).² Section 2, as amended, 96 Stat. 134, now reads:

(a) No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the rights of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 1973b(f)(2), as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) A violation of subsection (a) is established if, based on the totality of the circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination for election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) of this section in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice. The extent to which members of a protected class have been elected to office in the State or political subdivision is one circumstance which may be considered: Provided, that nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protective class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population. 42 U.S.C. § 1973 (emphasis added).

Prior to the 1982 amendments to section 2, a three-judge court composed of Judges Ainsworth, West and Gordon, headed by Judge West, addressed a voting rights claim arising out of the same claims of discrimination as in this case, albeit not in a section 2 context. Wells v. Edwards, 347 F.Supp. 453 (M.D.La.1972), aff'd, 409 U.S. 1095, 93 S.Ct. 904, 34 L.Ed.2d 679 (1973). In Wells, a registered black voter residing in Jefferson Parish, brought suit seeking a reapportionment of the judicial districts from which the seven judges of the Supreme Court of Louisiana are elected. Ms. Wells sought an injunction enjoining the state from holding the scheduled Supreme Court Justice elections and an order compelling the Louisiana Legislature to enact an apportionment plan in accordance with the "one man, one vote" principle and to reschedule the pending election. On cross motions for summary judgment, the three-judge court stated, "We hold that the concept of oneman, one vote apportionment does not apply to the judicial branch of government." 342 F.Supp. at 454. The Wells court took notice of Hadley v. Junior College District, 397 U.S. 50, 90 S.Ct. 791, 25 L.Ed.2d 45 (1970)), in which the Supreme Court held, "Whenever a state or local government decides to select persons by popular election to perform governmental functions, the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment requires that each qualified voter must be given an equal opportunity to participate in that election....", 90 S.Ct. 791, 795 (emphasis added), but distinguished its holding by outlining the special functions of judges.

The Wells court noted many courts' past delineations between elected officials who performed legislative or executive functions and judges who apply, but not create, law³ and concluded:

`Judges do not represent people, they serve people.' Thus, the rationale behind the one-man, one-vote principle, which evolved out of efforts to preserve a truly representative form of government, is simply not relevant to the makeup of the judiciary.

347 F.Supp. at 455.

The Wells opinion interpreted the "one man one vote" principle prior to the 1982 amendments to section 2, which added the phrase, "To elect representatives of their choice."⁴ (See emphasis in quotation 42 U.S.C. 1973, supra.) The legislative history of the 1982 Voting Rights Act amendments does not yield a definitive statement noting why the word "representative" was added to section 2. However, in this case, no such statement is necessary, as "to elect representatives of their choice" is clear and unambigous.

Judges, by their very definition, do not represent voters but are "appointed or elected to preside and to administer the...