Court Opinion

ID: 9663226
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:32:19.172495+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:46.758897
License: Public Domain

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part:
I join the majority's judgment and its essential reasoning in all respects except as follows:
In light of the fact that the Texas legislature has recently been called into special session commencing January 2, 1992, for the purpose of redistricting, in my view this Court’s Order should expressly provide that in the event legislation is enacted effecting alternate redistricting, and/or postponement of the 1992 primary elections, and such legislation is precleared by the Department of Justice, and found not invalid by this or another court if challenged, and all this transpires in time such that review thereof by the Department of Justice and by this Court can be had and thereafter the, presently scheduled 1992 primary elections, or 1992 primary elections pursuant to any such postponed date (if any such postponement is timely precleared by the Department of Justice and not sooner found invalid by this or another court), may properly take place in 1992, then the interim plan adopted by this Court shall be of no force or effect as to the body or bodies so redistricted. I believe that this much is required by deference to the legislature in these matters. See, e.g., McDaniel v. Sanchez, 452 U.S. 130, 101 S.Ct. 2224, 2236 n. 30, 68 L.Ed.2d 724 (1981).
ORDER AND JUDGMENT
Before the Court is the State Defendants’ Motion to Modify or Stay Judgment of December 24, 1991 said motion filed December 31, 1991. This Court has informed the plaintiffs that it would not take the motion under advisement pending expiration of the ten-day response time provided in the Local Rules and intends to rule on the instant motion before the 10th of January 1992. Plaintiffs filed their response January 8, 1991. Also before the Court is the State Defendants’ Emergency Motion to Modify, Vacate, or Stay Judgment of December 24, 1991 said motion filed January 9, 1992. Upon review of the motions, *840and the entire file in this case the Court finds the motions lack merit and should be DENIED.
State Defendants seek a stay of this Court’s Judgment entered December 24, 1991 in which the Court ordered the 1992 primary elections be held pursuant to the Court’s interim plans fashioned for the Texas House and Senate.1 These plans were adopted by necessity upon this Court’s finding that the legislatively-drawn plans redistricting those bodies potentially fail to adequately represent minorities as guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act. The State Defendants argue that once a federal court holds a state’s election law contravenes the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, “the unbroken thread running through the federal law of redistricting and voting rights” requires this Court to allow the legislature to cure the defects in its redistricting plans before elections may be conducted pursuant to a Court-ordered plan. In light of the recently-concluded special session of the Texas Legislature, specifically called to attempt to pass new plans redistricting seats of the Texas House and Senate, Defendants argue this Court should stay its Judgment in the event new plans are passed, and those plans receive preclearance by the Department of Justice and pass review by this Court after hearing, all to occur before January 10, 1992.2 While this is a correct statement of the law regarding the imposition of permanent election plans, the cases cited by the State Defendants in support of their motion also impart the bedrock principle that federal courts possess considerable latitude in affording interim relief that might otherwise exceed the traditional constraints of comity and deference to the Legislature — primarily to insure that elections take place as scheduled under valid state law. See, e.g., McDaniel v. Sanchez, 452 U.S. 130, 150 n. 30, 101 S.Ct. 2224, 2236 n. 30, 68 L.Ed.2d 724 (1981) (deference to legislature to devise acceptable replacement plan applies in normal case where legislature has adequate time to do so); Wise v. Lipscomb, 437 U.S. 535, 540, 98 S.Ct. 2493, 2497, 57 L.Ed.2d 411 (1978) (where imminence of state election renders legislative reapportionment impractical, federal courts may devise and impose interim redistricting plan pending later legislative action); Burns v. Richardson, 384 U.S. 73, 85, 86 S.Ct. 1286, 1293, 16 L.Ed.2d 376 (1966) (imposition of interim plan falls clearly within court’s discretion to ensure elections proceed as scheduled, particularly where plan does not remain in effect after legislature adopts acceptable permanent plan); Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 586, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 1394, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964) (district court did not abuse discretion by imposing provisional plans so upcoming primary elections could proceed as scheduled, after legislature failed to apportion itself within parameters set by U.S. Constitution); Seastrunk v. Burns, 772 F.2d 143, 151 (5th Cir.1985) (deference to legislature stops at point court finds plan illegal under federal law, or where preclearance has not been obtained); Jones v. City of Lubbock, 727 F.2d 364, 387 (5th Cir.1984) (court free to impose substitute plan after hearing and upon entry of findings holding legislative scheme violates federal law); Terrazas v. Clements, 537 F.Supp. 514, 527-528 (N.D.Tex.1982) (panel implemented interim plans to prevent delaying elections). The United States Supreme Court refused to stay the Order in Terrazas. Terrazas v. Clements, 456 U.S. 902, 102 S.Ct. 1745, 72 L.Ed.2d 158 (1982).
In the present case, this Court’s December 24, 1991 Judgment does no more than provide for the holding of 1992 elections as scheduled under Court-ordered interim plans that temporarily address voting rights deficiencies in the plans passed by the Texas Legislature. In denying the *841stay, this Court in no way intends to limit the efforts of the Legislature in adopting acceptable permanent plans at any time it sees fit. Early in the second called Session, the Texas House approved this Court’s interim plan redistricting that body for the 1992 primary elections, and fashioned a substitute permanent plan to be implemented for the 1994 elections. The Texas House indicated it approved the Court plan in order to guarantee that the elections go forward as presently scheduled. The objectives of the Texas Senate do not appear to be as clearly directed solely to the interests of Texas voters.
This Court fully recognizes that it should refrain from supplanting the policy choices of the Texas Legislature as expressed in HB 150 and SB 31 to the extent this Court has not found those choices in violation of federal law. It is evident that this Court has been able to do so to the satisfaction of the Texas House. With regard to the Texas Senate, it is not evident that the Senate’s dispute with this Court’s interim plan centered on fair representation of minority interests; rather, it appears the Senate was primarily interested in fashioning a plan that better protects certain Anglo incumbents at the expense of minority voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice. This Court comes to such conclusion having reviewed the Senate plan submitted to this Court and the Department of Justice on the eve of the filing deadline, yet sees no indication that the Senate is attempting to devise a plan that would enhance minority voting strength over that provided in this Court’s interim plan. As admitted in Defendants’ January 9, 1992 motion, this substitute plan (“S.B. 1”) adopted by the Legislature is identical to the one submitted by the parties in the Quiroz case in Hidalgo County. That “Quiroz plan” was before this Court during the period in which it reviewed SB 31, found that law in violation of the Voting Rights Act, and drafted its interim plan. Had this Court believed that the “Quiroz plan” better addressed the interests of minority voters its plan would have more closely mirrored the Senate districts drawn by the parties in Quiroz.
A detailed comparison of the Court’s interim plan with the “Quiroz plan” reveals that the Court’s plan, and not Quiroz, provides a greater opportunity for all minority citizens of the State of Texas to elect representatives of their choosing. A cursory examination of the bottom line supports this assertion: both Quiroz and the Court’s interim plan create nine minority majority districts, but the Court’s interim plan also creates a minority impact district in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area that is lacking in the Quiroz plan. Additional hearing and evidence is not necessary for this Court to determine that the Legislature’s adoption of Quiroz is not a response to minority concerns, but an impermissibly partisan reaction to this Court’s superior interim plan.
In the South Texas and Bexar County area, it appears that the plans are comparable in providing minorities an ability to elect representatives. Two of the six minority majority districts appear to be stronger under the Court’s plan than under the “Quiroz plan,” namely districts 20 and 21. Under the Court’s plan, 57.9% of the voting age population (“VAP”) in District 20 is Hispanic, while 58.7% of the VAP in District 21 is Hispanic. The numbers for the comparable districts under the “Quiroz plan” (districts 20 and 19) are lower — only 57.1% and 58.2% respectively. District 27 under the Court’s interim plan also appears to better address minority concerns. The Hispanic VAP in District 27 is 76.9% under the Court’s plan, lower than the 78.6% present in the “Quiroz plan’s” District 27. In light of the testimony at the December hearing that District 27 was “packed” under SB 31, this Court feels that its interim plan better responds to minority concerns regarding district 27.3 This Court further notes that the Democratic incumbent currently residing in that district, Senator Eddie Lucio, voted against SB 1.
The “Quiroz plan” and Court plans appear to provide comparable protection of minorities in two of the three remaining *842minority majority districts in the South Texas-Bexar County area. District 24 under the Court’s plan has a combined minority VAP of 63.3%; the corresponding district under Quiroz had a slightly lower combined minority VAP of 61.5%. Similarly, District 29 under the Court’s plan has a combined minority VAP of 70.1%, while District 29 under the “Quiroz plan” only marginally increases the combined minority VAP to 70.3%. The only district in which the “Quiroz plan” appears to provide significantly greater protection to minorities is District 26, which has an Hispanic VAP of 59.7% and a combined minority VAP of 65.8%. The corresponding district under the Court’s interim plan is District 19, which has a lower Hispanic and combined minority VAP of 56.3% and 60.5% respectively. Given that District 19 remains a strong minority majority district under the Court’s plan, this Court does not find this one district to be fatal to its plan. This Court further finds that the Democratic incumbent presently residing in this district, Senator Frank Tejeda, voted against the “Quiroz plan” stating to the print media that Quiroz impermissibly split the Black voters in Bexar County.
In Dallas and Harris counties, the other two counties with minority majority districts, it also appears that the Court’s plan better protects the interests of minority voters. In Harris County, both plans create two minority majority districts, one commonly referred to as the “Black district” (designated as District 13 under both plans), and the other referred to as the “Hispanic district” (designated as District 15 under the Court’s plan and District 6 under Quiroz). The Black district is significantly stronger under the Court’s interim plan, with a Black VAP seven percentage points higher and a combined minority VAP nine percentage points higher than that provided under the “Quiroz plan”. While the Hispanic district has a higher Hispanic VAP under the “Quiroz plan” than under the Court’s plan (57.1% as compared to 51.5%), the combined minority VAP’s are virtually identical under the two plans (66.9% as compared to 66.8%). In light of the testimony given at the December hearing that minority coalition voting does exist in Harris County, we are not convinced that the Hispanic district under the “Quiroz plan” is significantly stronger. We are convinced, however, that the Court’s interim plan better protects minority interests in Dallas and Tarrant counties. Both the “Quiroz plan” and the Court’s plan contain a minority majority district (District 23), with almost identical combined minority VAPs of 64.4% and 64.5%, respectively. The Court’s plan, however, also provides for a minority impact district spanning Dallas and Tarrant counties with a combined minority VAP of 48.5%. The “Quiroz plan” contains no such corresponding impact district.
In the absence of any laudable benefit to minorities, the Senate has only engaged in time-consuming partisanship. While such partisan goals may represent the policy choices of the Texas Senate, this Court finds it should not defer to those policies where doing so would result in postponement of the 1992 primary elections and the consequent tremendous drain on the public treasury for the apparent benefit of so few.
Any attempt by this Court to implement the substitute plan drafted by the Senate for the 1992 primary elections will necessarily and needlessly result in postponing those elections until at least mid-April of 1992. Under Texas law, a bill passed by a mere majority of both houses of the Legislature does not become effective as law until 90 days after adjournment of the session in which it was enacted. TEX. CONST, art. Ill, § 39. This would include the proposed substitute plan, any statutory scheme aimed at avoiding this Court’s Orders, as well as any enactment modifying the Texas Secretary of State’s authority to reschedule elections on his own initiative. Here the Court is faced with either abiding by existing state law, i.e. the present statutory scheme calling for a March 10, 1992 primary election date, or suspending all proceedings until the Legislature’s new proposal postponing the elections takes effect. This Court is not persuaded that it must be held hostage to the “ninety-day rule”, the effect of which would prevent *843this Court from relying on existing state law. What is left before the Court for review is legislative intent regarding the treatment of minorities and the rescheduling of elections. As discussed supra, this Court has found that minority voting rights can be enhanced to a greater degree than provided in a Quiroz-style plan. As for the rescheduling of elections the Court is of the following opinion.
Defendants seek relief similar to that discussed in Judge Garwood’s dissent in part, though a careful reading of that dissent reveals that Judge Garwood was also concerned that the primary elections proceed as scheduled, but wished to make this Court’s Judgment conditional on the Legislature’s ability to obtain preclearance of any substitute plan from the Department of Justice, and favorable review of that plan by this Court, all before the present filing date of January 10, 1991, or by some postponed date approved by the Department in advance. As evidenced by plaintiff’s supplemental record filed January 6, 1991, it is apparent that the Department of Justice does not intend to “rubber stamp” the Senate’s substitute plan even if it is identical to a previous submission that received preclearance. As part of that record, Assistant Attorney General John Dunne specifically states that any new plan submitted by the State of Texas for preclearance must now be judged against the standard of this Court’s interim plan for the Senate, and that any decrease in minority voting strength in the new plan from that afforded by the Court’s plan may give rise to a determination of discriminatory effect different from that reached under an identical plan reviewed in another context. Given the Department’s present posture, it does not appear that preclearance of any substitute plans can be obtained in a timely fashion so as to allow the 1992 primaries to proceed in March as provided by existing state law. It is also clear that any plan drafted by the Legislature cannot circumvent the Sec. 5 preclearance requirement merely because it has obtained the blessing of a federal court. Sanchez, 452 U.S. at 153, 101 S.Ct. at 2238. In order for this Court and the parties to technically comply with the procedural requirements of Sec. 5, and the effect of Texas law, the substitute Senate plan would not be submitted to the Department for review until after the enactment becomes law in April of 1992. As expressed by Mr. Dunne, the Department would then exercise its right to examine the plan and other materials submitted for a sixty-day period. Assuming preclearance was obtained at the end of that time, parties plaintiff could, upon proper motion, request this Court to conduct hearings on any objections to the substitute Senate plan. In that event, it is only remotely possible that the primary elections could take place before early summer of 1992, well after the half-way point of the presidential preference campaign season.
During the December 11, 1991 hearing, the Texas Secretary of State, John Hannah, Jr., testified that postponing the primary elections would cost the taxpayers “in the neighborhood of ten to fifteen million dollars.” R. at 68. As the March 10, 1992 elections involve a presidential preference primary, Hannah further testified that postponing the elections for candidates to the Texas House and Senate could confuse voters and lead to their voting twice in one primary season, a possible felony under Texas law. R. at 69. Such confusion, his testimony continued, would also reduce voter turn out. R. at 77. Hannah also testified that postponing elections could void voter registration certificates should significant changes be made in voting precincts, which would further affect voter turn out. R. at 71. Of greater significance, Hannah also testified that moving the elections to May 1992 could have the effect of reducing Hispanic voting in the Rio Grande Valley because of the migrant farm seasons. R. at 83. According to the testimony of the State Defendants’ own witness, postponing the elections for candidates to the Texas House and Senate would disserve the very group of voters who remain the focus of the litigation in Hidalgo County, and whose voting strength was increased by this Court’s interim plans after finding the legislatively drawn districts in The Valley did *844not satisfy the requirements of Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Accordingly, this Court finds the stay should be denied to avoid postponing the 1992 primary elections as presently scheduled under valid state law for the following reasons. The attempts made by the Legislature to change the election dates in the event this Court does not adopt its plan for the Senate are not effective as law at the time of this Order. Any abatement of this Court’s proceedings in order to allow those enactments to become law would delay the currently valid elections. As for the federal questions presented at this time, this Court further finds any attempt to adopt the legislatively-draw Senate plan would delay the elections since preclearance of that plan has not been obtained and there has been no indication that it will be obtained in time for the elections to proceed as scheduled. Until formal comment on the substitute Senate plan (“Qui-roz plan”) has been made by the Department of Justice, elections cannot proceed under the Legislature’s proposed plan as scheduled under current state law. Alternatively, should the opinion of the Department of Justice issue in the next few days, this Court has already reviewed testimony and other evidence on the Senate’s substitute plan during the December hearings and finds it fails to satisfy the Sec. 2 requirements of the Voting Rights Act. Given the impending election schedule, this Court further finds that any attempt at this time to allow the Legislature to formulate a second substitute plan to cure the voting rights deficiencies is not required and would only unnecessarily delay the elections.
Absent Constitutional or federal statutory infirmity, this Court shall continue to avoid preempting state policy as expressed by the Legislature, despite its perception that those policies appear to be founded on purely partisan considerations. In unique circumstances, though, equity requires that deference be tempered by necessity. Implicit in the Supreme Court’s willingness to vest a three-judge panel with the authority to decree that elections proceed on a timely basis is the recognition that the voting public is entitled to have some governmental body make a final determination that, at least temporarily, assures their ability to equally elect representatives of their choosing at the time set by law. After all, ensuring free and equal access to the ballot, not partisan considerations or the protection of incumbents, is the sole focus of federal law in the area of redistricting and reapportioning seats to legislative bodies. Should this Court stay its Judgment resulting in the postponement of elections, it is inevitable that new challenges to the substitute plans passed by the Legislature will be brought, and the litigation that has already consumed considerable state and federal judicial resources will begin anew. A state court in Hidalgo County, for example, has already attempted to extend the filing deadline for candidates to the Texas House in order to accommodate litigation challenging HB 150 and SB 31 under Texas law. Were this Court persuaded by the State Defendants’ argument that it must always allow the Legislature to cure the redistricting plans found in violation of the law by this Court, it is conceivable that the elections could be rescheduled ad infinitum. This Court will not further the State’s attempt to use the thread of deference running through the federal law of redistricting and voting rights as a cordon preventing the voting public from expressing its collective will at the ballot until certain Anglo incumbents are more comfortable with their chances of success.
ACCORDINGLY IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the State Defendants’ Motion for Stay is in all things DENIED, and that the 1992 primary elections proceed as presently scheduled under state law, with an election date of March 10, 1992;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that primary elections for the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives be conducted under this Court’s interim plans attached as Appendices A and B to this Court’s Judgment entered December 24, 1991;
*845IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the candidate filing deadlines for the 1992 primary elections to all offices remains January 10, 1992;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commissioners Court of Bexar County, Texas is included as a party to the Joint Motion for Interim Relief filed in the these causes December 6, 1991, and that Dallas County, Harris County, and Bexar County may consolidate their county election precincts as contemplated in that joint motion.

. Defendants do not seek to stay the portion of this Court’s Judgment implementing on an interim basis the plan passed by the Legislature redistricting seats for the U.S. Congress.

. As evidenced by the testimony of the Texas Secretary of State, January 10, 1991 is a critical deadline, it being the latest filing date possible that would allow the 1992 primary election to proceed as scheduled under the State’s statutory scheme. R. at 94; see also Defendant’s Exhibit 13.

. District 27 under both SB 31 and Quiroz have the identical Hispanic VAP of 78.6%.