Jordan v. Winter, GC 82-80-WK-O
| Decision Date | 08 June 1982 |
| Docket Number | GC 82-81-WK-O.,No. GC 82-80-WK-O,GC 82-80-WK-O |
| Citation | 541 F. Supp. 1135 |
| Parties | David JORDAN and Sammie Chestnut, On Behalf of the Greenwood Voters League, Individually and on Behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. William WINTER, Governor of Mississippi; T. H. Campbell, III, Chairperson, Bill Harpole, Vice-Chairperson, J. C. "Con" Maloney, Secretary, Joint Congressional Redistricting Committee; Brad Dye, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi and President of the Senate; and Clarence B. "Buddie" Newman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Defendants. Owen H. BROOKS, Sarah H. Johnson, Rev. Harold R. Mayberry, Willie Long, Robert E. Young, Thomas Morris, Charles McLaurin, Samuel McCray, Robert Jackson, Rev. Carl Brown, June E. Johnson, and Lee Ethel Henry, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. William F. WINTER, Governor of Mississippi, William A. "Bill" Allain, Attorney General of Mississippi, Edwin Lloyd Pittman, Secretary of State of Mississippi, in their official capacities and as members of the Mississippi State Board of Election Commissioners, Mississippi Democratic Executive Committee, Mississippi Republican Executive Committee, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Frank R. Parker, Washington, D. C., Johnnie E. Walls, Jr., Greenville, Miss., Robert Bruce McDuff, Memphis, Tenn., for plaintiffs.
Bill Allain, Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for defendants.
Before CLARK, Circuit Judge, and KEADY and SENTER, District Judges.
Plaintiffs bring class actions on behalf of Mississippi residents and registered voters and the state's black residents and voters to (1) enjoin enforcement of the state's 1981 congressional redistricting plan until it is precleared under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1973c); (2) prohibit further use of Miss.Code Ann. § 23-5-223 (1972), the state's existing congressional plan, because of population malapportionment allegedly violative of Art. 1, § 2 and the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution; and (3) secure a court-ordered plan for the 1982 elections for members of the United States House of Representatives, and thereafter until changed by law. Defendants are the state's governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state board of election commissioners and the Republican and Democratic state executive committees which are responsible for conducting the primary and general elections for the United States House of Representatives in Mississippi.
The court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343 and 42 U.S.C. § 1973j(f), and a three-judge district court has been properly convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284.
In August 1981 the Mississippi Legislature enacted S.B. 2001, also known as 1981 Mississippi Laws (Extraordinary Sess.) Ch. 8, for redistricting the state's five congressional districts and thereafter submitted it to the Attorney General of the United States for § 5 preclearance. After requesting additional information, the Attorney General interposed timely objection on March 30, 1982. Although the state legislature was in session when the objection was received, it adjourned several days later without enacting another plan or further attempting to obtain preclearance from the Attorney General. Instead, on April 7, the state filed a declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking judicial preclearance of S.B. 2001. Mississippi v. Smith, No. 82-0956. This court has been notified that the declaratory judgment action, in which plaintiffs have intervened, will not be heard until mid-July. Since by Mississippi law, the 1982 congressional primaries were set for June 1 with runoff primary June 22, this court on April 26 found it necessary to order indefinite postponement of the current year's congressional primary pending expedited hearing on issues relevant to formulation of an interim court-ordered plan.
The parties are in agreement that the present circumstances require the court to adopt an interim redistricting plan effective until S.B. 2001 is precleared or an alternate plan is enacted by the state legislature and precleared under § 5. Admittedly, Mississippi is a covered jurisdiction under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and S.B. 2001 is a change in standards, practices or procedures with respect to voting within the meaning of § 5. The parties, however, vigorously disagree on what plan should be adopted by the court as an interim congressional redistricting plan.
During a two-day hearing on May 13 and 14, the court received stipulations, oral and documentary evidence and heard oral argument. Briefs of all concerned parties having been filed, we incorporate herein findings of fact and conclusions of law required by Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P.
According to the 1980 official census, Mississippi has a total population of 2,520,638, of which approximately 35% are black. Since the state elects five members of the United States House of Representatives, the norm, or ideal population size for a congressional district is 504,128. Because of notable population shifts that have occurred throughout the state since 1970, the districts formed by the existing 1972 plan have a total population variance of 17.6%. The following table reflects the 1980 population, existing extent and percent of deviation, and percentage of minorities in the five 1972 districts:
Total
Dist. No. Pop. Deviation % Deviation Black %
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 495,709 8,419 - 1.67 29.90
2 460,780 43,348 - 8.60 45.25
3 514,218 10,090 + 2.00 37.87
4 500,329 3,799 - 0.75 45.37
5 549,602 45,474 + 9.02 19.78
In recognition of this disparity, the legislature in 1980 established a joint Senate-House Committee for Congressional Redistricting (Joint Committee), chaired by Representative Thomas H. Campbell, III, which converted census population data into the state's election precincts, conducted eight public hearings around the state and received the views and proposals of interested groups and individuals. Included among the submitted proposals were a number of plans advocated by legislators and citizens of both races. The plans submitted by blacks proposed joining the black majority counties in the northwest portion of the state known as the "Delta area" to other territory to create a black majority district, ranging from 52.1% to 65.81%.1
The Joint Committee recognized that the population variances had to be eliminated, but a majority of its members concluded this could be satisfactorily accomplished without diluting black voting strength by rearranging district lines to avoid incumbent congressmen from running against each other and by transferring only six counties and portions of four counties across district lines. Although Mississippi's congressional districting plans from 1882 to 1966 had contained a district encompassing most of the Delta counties, the committee did not feel obligated to voluntarily create a black majority district with a configuration different from the 1972 lines that had been previously precleared.2
The record further reflects that the Joint Committee disapproved any major change of the district lines and recommended a plan, the essence of which was enacted by the legislature as S.B. 2001, which achieved a population variance of .0422 by splitting four counties into adjacent districts (K-27). The stipulated data as to the total population, deviation, percentage of deviation, and percentage of total minority population3 in the S.B. 2001 districts follow:
Total
District Population Deviation % Deviation Black %
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 504,107 - 21 - .0042 29.79
2 504,024 - 104 - .0206 47.95
3 504,237 + 109 + .0216 33.38
4 504,123 - 5 - .0010 45.32
5 504,147 + 19 + .0038 19.54
S.B. 2001 was objected to by the Attorney General on the ground it divided the black majority Delta and part-Delta counties among Districts 1, 2 and 3 rather than concentrating them in a single district and concluded there had been unlawful dilution of minority voting strength.4 The Attorney General was of the view that the legislature's reliance upon the 1972 precleared plan was misplaced, and stated that while no objection to the 1972 plan was timely interposed, this was the result of an erroneous determination by his office that the Supreme Court's summary affirmance in Connor v. Johnson, 386 U.S. 483, 18 L.Ed.2d 224 (1967), was entitled to deference as to the § 5 issues.
Since it is apparent that the population deviations in congressional districts can be easily alleviated, the essence of the dispute centers around claims of dilution of black voting strength. Plaintiffs urge the court to adopt an interim plan with one district containing approximately 65% black majority population. To achieve this purpose, they have submitted two proposals, both of which were devised by Senator Henry J. Kirksey, a black legislator. The primary Kirksey plan (K-30) has a 64.37% black majority district and a total population variance of .2150%. This plan splits five counties, including populous Hinds County, from which a portion of the City of Jackson is combined with 14 Delta and part-Delta counties or segments thereof and with additional counties to form the black majority district. The following table presents the data concerning this plan.
Total
District Population Deviation % Deviation % Blacks
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