Georgia v. Ashcroft also addresses permissive intervention by legislators. In Louisiana's Section 5 state legislative preclearance litigation, I represented the LA Black Caucus as an intervenor and the NAACP LDEF also intervened.
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: "J.M. Wice" <JMWice@tmo.blackberry.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 16:45:09
To:"Michael McDonald" <mmcdon@gmu.edu>;"'election-law'" <election-law@majordomo.lls.edu>;"Ed Still" <ed@votelaw.com>
Subject: Re: Alabama state legislative redistricting lawsuit
Mike,
Ed Still represents one of the chambers. Hopefully he will be able to bring us up to speed on this.
While each state's laws here differ, and where a GOP AG not always anxious to assist a Democratic legislature (or vice versa), legislative leaders have usually been successful securing outside counsel. I've been in this situation on many occasions. The Alabama situation does appear to be out of the ordinary. Hopefully Ed or Larry Manafee will add their voice.
Jeff Wice
-----Original Message-----
From: "Michael McDonald" <mmcdon@gmu.edu>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 10:27:07
To:"'election-law'" <election-law@majordomo.lls.edu>
Subject: Alabama state legislative redistricting lawsuit
While I was at NCSL last week, an Alabama state legislator brought up a
resolution during the redistricting and elections committee business meeting
to promote laws that would provide state legislatures standing in court
cases seeking to invalidate state laws. The issue he was concerned with in
particular was a Larios-style redistricting lawsuit. Apparently, the state
legislature is not named as a defendant in the Federal lawsuit and when the
legislature tried to join in the defense, a Federal judge denied the
request. Furthermore, the legislator claimed that the state Attorney
General is not vigorously defending the state for political reasons. The
legislator claimed that the tactic of not naming the legislature as a
defendant and the Attorney General not defending a case was being used in
other lawsuits seeking to invalidate other laws.
I've cut and pasted a June 17, 2005 news story from the Birmingham News on
the case. Does anyone (perhaps Ed Still) have more information regarding
the circumstances of this lawsuit?
==================================
Dr. Michael P. McDonald
Brookings Institution, Visiting Fellow
George Mason University, Assistant Professor
Dept of Public and International Affairs
4400 University Drive - 3F4
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
Office: 703-993-4191
Fax: 703-993-1399
mmcdon@gmu.edu
http://elections.gmu.edu/
A long-awaited lawsuit to challenge Alabama state legislative district lines
was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Mobile.
Republicans are hoping the lawsuit will lead to redrawing the lines before
the 2006 elections and help boost their numbers in the Democratic-dominated
Legislature. A similar lawsuit filed in Georgia led to district lines being
redrawn in the Peach State and to a GOP takeover of the General Assembly.
Two of the lawyers who filed the Alabama lawsuit, Frank Strickland and Anne
Lewis, were the key lawyers in the Georgia case. The lead Alabama lawyer is
Mark Montiel of Montgomery.
Jerry Lathan of Theodore, a state Republican Party vice chairman who led the
effort to organize the lawsuit, said that about 20 plaintiffs, some of them
Democrats, are involved.
''The whole group is complaining that the districts are not represented in a
fair manner,'' Lathan said.
The plaintiffs' basic argument is that the current legislative district
setup, fashioned by Democrats, violates the principle of one person, one
vote by stacking a number of districts with Republican voters to keep
Democratic control in others. In about 40 percent of the legislative
districts, the stacking has produced voter populations greatly above or
below court-approved guidelines, Lathan said.
In the House, for instance, Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, RPelham, has the most
overpopulated district, at 4.8 percentage points above the court-approved
target. Rep. Skippy White, D-Flomaton, has the most underpopulated district,
at 4.9 percentage points below the target.
Lathan said the district plan protects Democratic incumbents and Republican
incumbents, as well. Some of those Republicans ''have complained bitterly
that they don't want this (the lawsuit) done,'' Lathan said.
The Democrats hold a 25-10 majority in the state Senate and a 63-42 edge in
the House. Republican legislators plan to mount an effort to win majorities
in both houses in 2006.
One of the leaders in that effort, Rep. Scott Beason of Gardendale, said
earlier this year, ''We're mounting our effort based on the present
districts, but . . . that lawsuit would give us a 350-pound lineman and a
star tailback to win the game in 2006.''
Department of Justice
Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Redding Pitt called the lawsuit ''a
publicity stunt'' that was ''completely without merit.'' He said the Alabama
district plan is vastly different from the overturned Georgia plan.
''Alabama's redistricting went through the Justice Department (clearance
process) immediately, unlike Georgia's . . . which took many months and was
controversial,'' Pitt said.
Even former Attorney General Bill Pryor, a Republican, did not oppose the
plan, Pitt said, because ''Alabama's redistricting was completely within
judicial and Department of Justice guidelines.''
''To me, it appears that Republicans are trying to change the rules in the
middle of the game,'' said Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.