Stephenson v. Bartlett, 94PA02-2.

Citation357 N.C. 301,582 S.E.2d 247
Decision Date16 July 2003
Docket NumberNo. 94PA02-2.,94PA02-2.
PartiesAshley STEPHENSON, individually, and as a resident and registered voter of Beaufort County, North Carolina; Leo Daughtry, individually, and as Representative for the 95th District, North Carolina House of Representatives; Patrick Ballantine, individually, and as Senator for the 4th District, North Carolina Senate; ART POPE, individually, and as Representative for the 61st District, North Carolina House of Representatives; and Bill Cobey, individually, and as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated v. Gary O. BARTLETT, as Executive Director of the State Board of Elections; Larry Leake, Robert B. Cordle, Genevieve C. Sims, Lorraine G. Shinn, and Charles Winfree, as members of the State Board of Elections; James B. Black, as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives; Marc Basnight, as President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate; Michael Easley, as Governor of the State of North Carolina; and Roy Cooper, as Attorney General of the State of North Carolina.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of North Carolina

Haynsworth Baldwin Johnson & Greaves, LLC by Thomas A. Farr and Phillip J. Strach, Cary; Maupin Taylor & Ellis, P.A. by James C. Dever, III and Terence D. Friedman, Raleigh; and Hunter Higgins Miles Elam & Benjamin by Robert N. Hunter, Jr., Greensboro, for plaintiff-appellees.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General by Edwin M. Speas, Jr., Chief Deputy Attorney General, and Tiare B. Smiley, Norma S. Harrell, Alexander McC. Peters, and Susan K. Nichols, Special Deputy Attorneys General, for defendant-appellants.

Robert P. Quinn, M.D., amicus curiae.

LAKE, Chief Justice.

The sole issue presently before this Court in this case is whether the trial court correctly determined that the General Assembly's 2002 revised redistricting plans are unconstitutional. After careful review, we conclude the trial court ruled correctly, and we therefore affirm.

The procedural history of this case is reported in detail in Stephenson v. Bartlett, 355 N.C. 354, 358-60, 562 S.E.2d 377, 381-83 (2002) (Stephenson I).

We nonetheless recite the basic procedural history below to include events that have transpired since this Court issued its decision in Stephenson I.

In November 2001, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted legislative redistricting plans. Id. at 358, 562 S.E.2d at 381. We hereinafter refer to the General Assembly's 2001 redistricting plans, Senate Plan 1C and Sutton House Plan 3, as "the 2001 redistricting plans." On 13 November 2001, plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that the 2001 redistricting plans violated the "Whole-County Provisions" (the WCP) of the North Carolina Constitution (the State Constitution). Id.; see also N.C. Const. art. II, §§ 3(3), 5(3). Plaintiffs argued that the WCP prohibited the General Assembly from dividing counties in creating legislative districts except to the extent required by federal law. Stephenson I, 355 N.C. at 358, 562 S.E.2d at 381.

On 19 November 2001, defendants removed the case to federal court. Id. at 358, 562 S.E.2d at 382. On 20 December 2001, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina remanded the case back to state court. Id. The district court concluded that the case involved only issues of state law and that defendants' removal to federal court was thus improper. Id. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit subsequently denied defendants' motion to stay the district court's order of remand. Id.

On 20 February 2002, the trial court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. Id. The trial court concluded that the 2001 redistricting plans violated the WCP of the State Constitution. Id. at 358-59, 562 S.E.2d at 382. The trial court's order stated that "the General Assembly must preserve county lines to the maximum extent possible, except to the extent counties must be divided to comply with ... the Voting Rights Act ... and the U.S. Constitution." Id. at 359, 562 S.E.2d at 382.

On 30 April 2002, in Stephenson I, this Court modified and affirmed the trial court's decision, id. at 386, 562 S.E.2d at 398, and ordered the trial court to hold an expedited hearing on the feasibility of allowing the General Assembly the first opportunity to develop new plans, id. at 385, 562 S.E.2d at 398. However, this Court held that if the General Assembly was unable to develop revised constitutional plans meeting the guidelines established in Stephenson I, the trial court should adopt its own interim remedial plans and seek preclearance of any such plans from the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ). Id. This Court also "authorized [the trial court] to take all necessary remedial actions to ensure that the primary elections for legislative offices are conducted in a timely and expeditious manner and consistent with the general election scheduled for 5 November 2002." Id. at 381 n. 7, 562 S.E.2d at 395 n. 7.

On 6 May 2002, defendants sought an emergency stay of the Stephenson I decision in the United States Supreme Court, contending that Stephenson I violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (the VRA) and would require the enforcement of unprecleared state constitutional provisions. On 17 May 2002, Chief Justice Rehnquist denied the stay request, noting that because "there is no plan in North Carolina to hold elections in unprecleared districts, there are no grounds for granting a stay." Bartlett v. Stephenson, 535 U.S. 1301, 1304-05, 122 S.Ct. 1751, 1753, 152 L.Ed.2d 1015, 1018 (2002) (Rehnquist, C.J., in chambers).

On remand, the trial court concluded that sufficient time existed for the General Assembly to submit new redistricting plans and ordered that such plans be submitted by 20 May 2002. The trial court also stated: "No plan submitted by the General Assembly and approved by this court, or in the absence of such a plan, no plan adopted by the court, shall be administered in the 2002 elections until such time as it is precleared pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act." On 17 May 2002, the General Assembly enacted new redistricting plans and submitted these plans to the trial court by the 20 May 2002 deadline. We hereinafter refer to the General Assembly's revised 2002 plans—identified by the General Assembly as "Fewer Divided Counties" and "Sutton 5"—as "the 2002 revised redistricting plans." On 31 May 2002, following a hearing, the trial court concluded that the 2002 revised redistricting plans failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements specified in Stephenson I. Pursuant to our mandate in Stephenson I, the trial court developed interim House and Senate redistricting plans and ordered that these plans be used only in the 2002 legislative elections. On 12 July 2002, the USDOJ precleared the trial court's interim plans.

On 31 May 2002, defendants filed a notice of appeal. Additionally, on 2 June 2002, defendants petitioned this Court to issue a writ of supersedeas and a temporary stay of the trial court's 31 May 2002 order. On 4 June 2002, in consideration of the time constraints for preclearance and for conducting the 2002 elections, this Court denied defendants' petition for writ of supersedeas and motion for temporary stay. The 2002 general election was duly held pursuant to the trial court's precleared interim plans.

On 14 March 2003, following briefing and oral argument by the parties on defendants' appeal, this Court entered an order certifying the matter to the trial court for "additional findings of fact regarding the trial court's 31 May 2002 determination that the [2002 revised redistricting plans] are unconstitutional." This order further mandated that the parties be allowed to tender proposed findings of fact for the trial court's consideration in submitting its additional findings of fact and further order. On 28 March 2002, plaintiffs submitted proposed findings of fact for the trial court's consideration. Defendants declined to submit any proposed findings. On 17 April 2003, the trial court recertified the matter to this Court with submission of its additional findings of fact and conclusions of law. The parties submitted supplemental briefs addressing these further findings and conclusions of the trial court.

In our consideration and determination of whether the trial court correctly ruled that the 2002 revised redistricting plans were unconstitutional, we begin with the relevant provisions of the State Constitution. As stated in Stephenson I:

The State Constitution specifically enumerates four limitations upon the redistricting and reapportionment authority of the General Assembly, summarized as follows:
(1) Each Senator and Representative shall represent, as nearly as possible, an equal number of inhabitants.
(2) Each senate and representative district shall at all times consist of contiguous territory.
(3) No county shall be divided in the formation of a senate or representative district.
(4) Once established, the senate and representative districts and the apportionment of Senators and Representatives shall remain unaltered until the next decennial census of population taken by order of Congress.

Stephenson I, 355 N.C. at 362-63, 562 S.E.2d at 384; see also N.C. Const. art. II, §§ 3, 5.

With respect to the State's role in redistricting, this Court further stated the following fundamental principles in Stephenson I:

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