Mississippi State Chapter, Operation Push, Inc. v. Mabus, 89-4627
| Decision Date | 31 May 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-4627,89-4627 |
| Citation | 932 F.2d 400 |
| Parties | MISSISSIPPI STATE CHAPTER, OPERATION PUSH, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, Cross-Appellees, v. Ray MABUS, Governor of Mississippi, et al., Defendants-Appellees, Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Frank R. Parker, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs-appellants, cross-appellees.
W.O. Luckett, Jr., Michael T. Lewis, Luckett Law Firm, Clarksdale, Miss., for Carter.
Hunt Cole, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Mike Moore, Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for defendants-appellees, cross-appellants.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Before POLITZ, WILLIAMS, and JONES, Circuit Judges.
This case involves a challenge by black citizens to Mississippi's voter registration system. The plaintiffs alleged in the district court that Mississippi's dual registration system and prohibition on satellite registration violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1971 and 1983, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973. Named defendants included the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State of Mississippi.
The district court agreed with the plaintiffs that the existing system violated Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act, but refused to order immediate relief for the violation. Instead, as its remedy, the court gave the Mississippi Legislature an opportunity to cure the violations by amending its existing voter registration procedures during its then upcoming session. The court outlined the minimum changes necessary to bring the state's system of voter registration into compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The legislature amended its voter registration laws during that session, adopting a bill incorporating the recommendations of the district court. After reviewing this statute, the district court held that the Mississippi voter registration laws no longer violated the Voting Rights Act.
On appeal, the original plaintiffs allege that the legislative changes did not fully remedy the past violations occasioned by Mississippi's discriminatory laws. The state of Mississippi cross-appeals, claiming that the district court erred in its original finding of a violation of the Voting Rights Act. We affirm both the finding of a violation and the approval of the legislative remedy.
Mississippi has a long history of using voter qualifications and registration procedures to impede black citizens' participation in the political process. When passage of the Fifteenth Amendment prevented it from overtly denying the right to vote to its black citizens, Mississippi resorted to indirect methods to accomplish the same result. Devices used by Mississippi to inhibit black voters include poll taxes, literacy tests, residency requirements, "good moral character" tests, a disenfranchising crimes provision, and white primaries. The district court's opinion chronicles the implementation of these obstacles to voter registration. Mississippi State Chapter, Operation PUSH, et al. v. Allain, et al., 674 F.Supp. 1245, 1251-52 (N.D.Miss.1987). We need not repeat that history here. 1
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 struck down the poll tax and discriminatory voter registration tests, but it did not in terms eliminate other discriminatory devices employed in Mississippi. The case underlying this appeal challenged two remaining features of Mississippi voter registration law under Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act: the dual registration requirement and the prohibition on satellite registration.
Mississippi first adopted a dual registration procedure during its legislative session in 1892. As originally enacted, Mississippi's dual registration process required a citizen to register first with the county registrar (circuit clerk), to vote in federal, state, and county elections, and again with the municipal clerk to vote in municipal elections. Miss.Code of 1892, ch. 93, Secs. 3028-29. The procedure in effect at the time plaintiffs filed their suit contained the same separate registration requirement. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 21-11-1 (1972). 2
Mississippi had also severely restricted the ability of its county registrars to conduct voter registration at places other than the registrar's office. This prohibition on satellite registration began in 1955 when the Mississippi Legislature enacted a statute preventing the removal of the registration books from the county registrar's office except in limited circumstances. Miss.Laws, 1955 Extra Sess., ch. 103. Prior to the passage of this statute, Mississippi law required each county registrar to conduct some satellite registration at polling places in his or her county before each election. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 3211 (1942).
The original plaintiffs in this case filed their lawsuit in 1984 challenging the dual registration statute and the prohibition on satellite registration. Miss.Code Ann. Secs. 21-11-1 and 23-5-29 (1972). Plaintiffs include two organizations, the Mississippi State Chapter, Operation PUSH, and the Quitman County Voters League. Additional plaintiffs are six eligible but unregistered black voters, and three black registered voters. The plaintiffs brought suit individually and on behalf of two plaintiff classes certified by the district court of (1) all black citizens who were eligible to vote but not registered to vote, and (2) all black registered voters in Mississippi. Named as defendants in the action are the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State of Mississippi, in their official capacity and as members of the State Board of Election Commissioners. Also included as defendants are the circuit clerks of two counties, representing a defendant class of Mississippi circuit clerks and county registrars, and the city clerks of three municipalities, representing a defendant class of all Mississippi municipal clerks and registrars. For convenience, we refer to the appellants in this opinion collectively as "PUSH".
PUSH challenged the dual registration system and the prohibition on satellite registration as devices enacted by the Mississippi Legislature with the intended purpose of limiting black voter registration. The dual registration system required separate registration with the county registrar to vote in these elections. Satellite registration was blocked by prohibiting the removal of the registration books. Registration could take place only in the registrar's office, generally located in the county courthouse.
Because a significant percentage of Mississippi's black citizens do not have (1) access to the transportation necessary to travel to the county courthouse to register, or (2) the type of jobs that would allow them to leave work during business hours to register to vote, the procedures allegedly resulted in black citizens registering to vote at a rate 25% lower than white citizens. PUSH claimed that these procedures and the resulting disparity in voter registration rates violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1971 and 1983, and Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973.
Before the case went to trial, in 1984 the Mississippi Legislature amended the challenged statutes. Relying on these amendments, the State asked the district court to dismiss PUSH's action for mootness. PUSH opposed the motion, and filed a supplemental complaint stating its objections to the new legislation. In that complaint, PUSH argued that the 1984 amendments left the dual registration system and the prohibition on satellite registration essentially intact.
The 1984 amendments altered the dual registration system by allowing voters to register with the circuit clerks or county registrars for federal, state, county, and municipal elections. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-39 (Spec.Pamph.1986). The amendments also required the State Board of Election Commissioners to appoint some municipal clerks as deputy county registrars. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-223 (Spec.Pamph.1986). Citizens in these municipalities could register with their municipal clerk for all elections. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-35(2) (Spec.Pamph.1986).
On their face, these amendments addressed the dual registration problem, but PUSH urged that limitations in the amendments maintained significant portions of the challenged system. First, the amendments were prospective only. Anyone who had registered with the circuit clerk prior to the 1984 amendments still had to register with the municipal clerk to vote in municipal elections. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-39(8) (Spec.Pamph.1986). Second, the mandatory deputization of municipal clerks applied only to cities with a population over 500 and with clerks who worked full-time. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-223 (Spec.Pamph.1986). Citizens in cities with a population less than 500 or employing clerks who did not keep full-time office hours still had to register with the county registrar to vote in elections other than municipal elections.
PUSH also alleged that the 1984 amendments had little impact on the prohibition on satellite registration. Although the new rule ostensibly allowed a registrar to conduct voter registration outside of his office, the prerequisites to the rule effectively prevented satellite registration. The new rule required approval of the county board of supervisors prior to conducting satellite registration. It also limited satellite registration to polling places, and it left the use of the procedure to the unfettered discretion of the circuit clerks. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 23-15-37 (Spec.Pamph.1986). These limitations, it was urged, severely restricted the efficacy of satellite registration under the amended statutes.
The district court denied the motion to dismiss for mootness. The case...
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