Opinion ID: 770321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nikita Calloway

Text: 67 Nikita Ladell Calloway, who was 20 years old at the time of the election, had lived in Crawfordsville all his life. He was frequently in the Water Department to pay bills, and Ms. Freeman had seen him there from the time he was a child until three months before the election. He saw Ms. Freeman at the Water Department about eight times in the year before the election. He would stop and talk with her, and she would call him by name, either Nikita, or his nickname, Bird. Tr. 37, 47, 51-52. Mr. Calloway had also done yard work for Ms. Freeman when he was about 15 years old. Tr. 38. 68 On November 5, 1996, when Ms. Freeman asked Mr. Calloway his name, he replied Nikita Calloway. Ms. Freeman then said, according to Mr. Calloway's testimony, You can't vote, because you are trying to vote in place of a girl. Ms. Freeman said, That can't be your name. That's a girl's name. Tr. 153 (testimony of Carla James). Finally, Mr. Calloway pulled out an identification card and showed it to Ms. Freeman. Tr. 39-40. At that point, someone whose voice he didn't recognize stated that such a form of identification could be made up on computers. Tr. 41. Then, [a]fter a little conflict, he was allowed to vote on the voting machine. Tr. 50. Mr. Calloway testified that while he was voting, Mr. Howe stuck his head in the voting booth for about 15 seconds. Tr. 42-43. Mr. Howe denied the incident. Tr. 790. About 30 people were in the polling place when these events occurred, and Mr. Calloway felt ashamed and embarrassed. Tr. 44. 69 Mr. Calloway was allowed to vote. What happened to him was not so serious as denying a person the right to vote, but being harassed during the exercise of one's franchise is still unlawful if the harassers are acting under color of state law and are motivated by racial prejudice. The District Court rejected this claim, finding Ms. Freeman's testimony more credible. Among other things, the Court said that Calloway was the only one of these persons [Calloway, Howe, Freeman, and Carlson] to testify to the plaintiff's version of events. This is true, but it overlooks the fact that Carla James, not a party to the case, backed Mr. Calloway's account. Ms. James testified that Ms. Freeman said to Mr. Calloway, That can't be your name. That's a girl's name. Tr. 153. In our view, the finding of the District Court on this point is clearly erroneous. No one denied the length of Mr. Calloway's residence in Crawfordsville, the fact of his having frequented the water office, or his having done yard work for Ms. Freeman. Nikita is not a girl's name, not exclusively, anyway, and it wouldn't matter for present purposes if it were. There is no evidence that any white voter was similarly impeded. We hold that Ms. Freeman and Mr. Howe are liable in this incident. There is no evidence connecting Ms. Carlson with these events.