Terrazas v. Clements

• Citation: 537 F. Supp. 514
• Decision Date: 24 March 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 3-81-1946-R.
• Parties: Louis TERRAZAS, W. E. Tucker, Linda Allison Frederick, Verne D. J. Philips and Ed Emmett, Plaintiffs, Jesus Rodriguez, et al., R. A. Deison, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs-Intervenors, v. William P. CLEMENTS, Individually and in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Texas; et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

537 F. Supp. 514

Louis TERRAZAS, W. E. Tucker, Linda Allison Frederick, Verne D. J. Philips and Ed Emmett, Plaintiffs, Jesus Rodriguez, et al., R. A. Deison, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs-Intervenors, v. William P. CLEMENTS, Individually and in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Texas; et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 3-81-1946-R.

United States District Court, N. D. Texas, Dallas Division.

March 24, 1982.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Thomas G. Crouch, Crouch & Jones, Patricia A. Hill, Dallas, Tex., for Senate plaintiffs.

John N. McCamish, Jr., Pat Deely, McCamish, Ingram, Martin & Brown, Inc., San Antonio, Tex., for House plaintiffs.

Randall B. Strong, City Atty., Daniel R. Jackson, Asst. City Atty., Baytown, Tex., for Bayton plaintiffs.

Joaquin G. Avila, Jose Garza, Norma V. Solis, Judith A. Sanders, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, San Antonio, Tex., Albert H. Kauffman, Dallas, Tex., Vilma S. Martinez, Morris J. Baller, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, San Francisco, Cal., for MALDEF intervenors.

J. Richie Field, Crews, Field, Steele & Page, Conroe, Tex., for Montgomery County intervenors.

Richard E. Gray, III, Executive Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Texas, Steve Bickerstaff, C. Robert Heath, Martha E. Smiley, Bickerstaff, Heath & Smiley, Austin, Tex., for defendants Mark White, William P. Clements, William P. Hobby, Bill Clayton, Bob Bullock, Bob Armstrong.

John Harmon, R. James George, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, Austin, Tex., for defendant Chester R. Upham.

Bob Slagle, III, Sherman, Tex., for defendant Bob Slagle.

Cullen Smith, Larry O. Brady, Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee, David Guinn, Michael Morrison, Baylor Law School, Waco, Tex., for defendant David Dean.

William French Smith, U. S. Atty. Gen., Paul Hancock, Robert S. Berman, David S. Cunningham, III, U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for amicus curiae Department of Justice.

Before RANDALL, Circuit Judge, and SANDERS and BUCHMEYER, District Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Originally, these cases presented constitutional attacks by the several plaintiffs and intervenors upon parts of the 1981 Legislative Redistricting Board's redistricting plans for the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. The consolidated cases were tried for six days, January 18-23, 1982, before a three-judge court convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284(a). Additional hearings were held on March 1-2, 1982.

On March 5, 1982, this Court ordered temporary redistricting plans into effect with the express caveat that these temporary plans were only to remain "in effect for all elections through December 31, 1983, unless valid apportionment plans are sooner enacted." We further held that "in the event that valid plans are not in effect by September 1, 1983, or such earlier date as this Court may hereafter establish, this Court will then proceed to draw permanent court-ordered plans for the apportionment of the Texas legislature."

Faced with the necessity of deciding the case by March 5, 1982, so that the scheduled May 1, 1982 primaries could be held on time, we prepared only a summary opinion to accompany our order, promising a "full opinion." We now provide that opinion, setting forth the procedural history of these cases, an analysis of the claims presented and the relief requested, our disposition of those claims and the relief granted.

I. Procedural History of These Cases

A. The Parties and Claims

The plaintiffs ("Senate Plaintiffs") in CA 3-81-1946-R brought suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas on October 29, 1981, against William P. Clements, Governor of the State of Texas, Mark White, Attorney General of the State of Texas, David Dean, Secretary of State of the State of Texas, Chester R. Upham, Chairman of the Republican Party of the State of Texas, and Bob Slagle, Chairman of the Democratic Party of the State of Texas, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting implementation of the reapportionment plan for electing members of the Senate of the State of Texas adopted on October 27, 1981, by the Legislative Redistricting Board¹ (the "LRB") of the State of Texas pursuant to Article III, § 28 of the Texas Constitution. The Senate Plaintiffs claimed, inter alia, that the LRB Senate plan violates the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment and the fifteenth amendment to the United States Constitution in that it dilutes the voting strength of blacks, hispanics and republicans and ignores communities of interests throughout the State. The Senate Plaintiffs requested appointment of a three-judge court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284(a).

The plaintiffs ("House Plaintiffs") in CA 3-81-2205-R brought suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on November 6, 1981, against the same persons who were at that time the defendants in the Senate case seeking declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting implementation of the reapportionment plan for electing members of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas adopted on October 28, 1981, by the LRB, also pursuant to Article III, § 28 of the Texas Constitution. The House Plaintiffs claimed that the LRB House plan violates the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution in that deviations in the proposed House districts from the ideal one person, one vote district are greater than is permitted under the fourteenth amendment; that the LRB House plan violates the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments in that the proposed House districts invidiously cancel, minimize and dilute the voting strength of racial minorities; and that the LRB House plan violates the first amendment in that it represents an intentional interference by the State of Texas with the first amendment rights of all citizens (specifically, in this case, Texas republicans) to associate politically. The House Plaintiffs also asserted that the LRB House plan impermissibly divides communities of interest and establishes districts that are not compact and contiguous. The House Plaintiffs also requested a three-judge court.

The House Plaintiffs subsequently amended their pleadings to join as additional defendants William P. Hobby, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Texas, Bill Clayton, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bob Bullock, Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas, and Bob Armstrong, Commissioner of the General Land Office of the State of Texas (such additional defendants, together with the original defendants in the Senate and House cases, being hereinafter collectively called the "Defendants"); to seek a declaratory judgment that the LRB House plan is required to be submitted to the United States Department of Justice² for preclearance pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended (the "Voting Rights Act" or the "Act"), 42 U.S.C. § 1973c,³ or made the subject of a declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; and to seek injunctive relief ordering the Defendants to submit the LRB House plan to the Department of Justice for preclearance or to bring a declaratory judgment action as contemplated by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The amended pleadings also requested a declaratory judgment that the apportionment plan for the House of Representatives in existence prior to the adoption of the LRB House plan is unconstitutional because population changes in the State since 1970 had resulted in unacceptable deviations from the one person, one vote standard. Finally, the House Plaintiffs asked the court to adopt "a legal plan of apportionment" for the Texas House of Representatives.

The City of Baytown and Emmett O. Hutto as Mayor of the City of Baytown (collectively, "Baytown") brought suit (CA-3-81-2263-R) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on December 22, 1981, against the original defendants in the other cases seeking declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting implementation of the LRB House plan. Baytown claimed, inter alia, that the LRB House plan violates the fourteenth amendment in that it impermissibly divides communities and units of interest existing among voting groups in this State, specifically, the City of Baytown, and that such division results from invidious purposeful discrimination; that the LRB plan "packs" certain growth districts which results in gross underrepresentation of the constituents in those areas; and that purposeful intent to discriminate in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment is evidenced by various infirmities appearing in the LRB plan. Baytown also requested appointment of a three-judge court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284(a).

All three cases were brought directly under the fourteenth amendment and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, 28 U.S.C. § 2201 and 28 U.S.C. § 2202. The Senate and House Plaintiffs also brought their suits pursuant to the fifteenth amendment; the House Plaintiffs' case was also brought under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 and 42 U.S.C. § 1973c. Jurisdiction for all three cases was asserted under 28 U.S.C. § 1343.

A three-judge court was designated in the Senate case. The House and Baytown cases were transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and consolidated on December 3, 1981 and December 30, 1981, respectively, with the Senate case for trial.

On December 16, 1981, R. A. Deison, Jr. and other individuals, all claiming residence in Montgomery County, Texas (collectively, "Montgomery County"), simultaneously moved this Court and the District Court for the Western District of Texas to allow them to intervene in the Senate case and the House case, respectively, alleging that the LRB House plan violates the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution in that it dilutes the voting rights of minorities, allows for greater population...