Case 3:11-cv-00159-TSL -EGJ -LG Document 82 Filed 04/25/11 Page 1 of 4
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
JACKSON DIVISION
MISSISSIPPI STATE CONFERENCE OF THE NAACP, ET AL.
Plaintiffs,
vs. No. 3:11-cv-159 (TSL)(FKB)
HALEY BARBOUR, ET AL.,
Defendants,
and
THE APPORTIONMENT AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SENATOR TERRY C. BURTON, AND SENATE DEMOCRATIC
CAUCUS,
Intervenors.
MOTION OF INTERVENOR HOUSE APPORTIONMENT AND
ELECTIONS COMMITTEE TO ADOPT 2011 HOUSE AND SENATE
PLANS AS INTERIM PLANS FOR THE 2011 ELECTION ONLY, TO DEFER
ISSUE OF SPECIAL ELECTIONS FOR THE TIME BEING, AND TO SET
A SCHEDULE IN THE FUTURE FOR THE FILING OF ANY MOTIONS FOR
SPECIAL ELECTIONS, AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW
In its order setting the April 22, 2011 status conference, the Court directed the parties
to be prepared to discuss “whether the respective plans adopted by the House of
Representatives and the Senate during the regular 2011 session satisfy the one person, one
vote principle.” No party contended that the plans violated this principle except the
Mississippi Republican Party, whose counsel acknowledged that the plans meet the plus or
minus 5% standard, but claimed that the House plan nevertheless constitutes a violation
under the analysis set forth in a case from Georgia, Larios v. Cox, 300 F. Supp. 2d 1320
(N.D. Ga. 2004) (three-judge court). Even so, counsel for the Republican Party conceded
that any problem here is “not as extreme” as the violation found in Larios.
In light of (1) the positions stated at the April 22 status conference,(2) the limited
Case 3:11-cv-00159-TSL -EGJ -LG Document 82 Filed 04/25/11 Page 2 of 4
amount of time before the statutory June 1 qualifying deadline, during which a plan must be
adopted for the elections in time for potential candidates to analyze the new districts and
decide whether to run, and (3) the limited amount of time between the June 1 qualifying
deadline and the August 2, 2011 primary, the intervenor House Apportionment and Elections
Committee moves that the House and Senate plans be adopted as an interim court-ordered
plan for the 2011 elections only, that the issue of special elections be deferred for the time
being, and that the Court at some point schedule a deadline in the future for any party to file
any motion for special election relief if the party believes that any alleged infirmities in the
2011 House or Senate plans justify holding a special election in 2012.
As indicated by the limited nature of the objection to the 2011 House plan, the plus
or minus 5% standard is met, and the only alleged infirmity is the Republican Party’s claim
that the plan runs afoul of the Larios analysis, but is “not as extreme” as the problem in
Larios. Given the limited nature of that claim, and the short amount of time that remains, the
plan can be used in the 2011 elections, with the Republican Party retaining the right to
litigate the validity of the plan and litigate whether any violation that exists in the plan would
justify special election relief in 2012 similar to the special election ordered twenty years ago
in Watkins v. Mabus, 771 F. Supp. 789 (S.D. Miss. 1991) (three-judge court). In that manner,
the Court could defer, for the time being, the complicated question of special election relief
and resolve it in the future without the time constraints imposed by the June 1 qualifying
deadline and the August 2 primary.
2
Case 3:11-cv-00159-TSL -EGJ -LG Document 82 Filed 04/25/11 Page 3 of 4
Respectfully submitted,
s/Robert B. McDuff
ROBERT B. MCDUFF
Miss. Bar No. 2532
767 North Congress Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
(601) 969-0802
[email protected]
Counsel for Intervenor House
Apportionment and Elections Committee
3
Case 3:11-cv-00159-TSL -EGJ -LG Document 82 Filed 04/25/11 Page 4 of 4
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on April 25, 2011, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the
Court using the ECF system which sent notification to the following:
Carroll Edward Rhodes Samuel Begley
LAW OFFICES OF CARROLL RHODES Begley Law Firm
P. O. Box 588 P.O. Box 287
Hazlehurst, MS 39083 Jackson, MS 39205
Stephen Lee Thomas
Jack L. Wilson John F. Hawkins
BRADLEY ARANT BOULT HAWKINS, STRACENER, & GIBSON,
CUMMINGS LLP PLLC
P.O. Box 1789 P.O. Box 24627
Jackson, MS 39215-1789 Jackson, MS 39225-4627
Michael B. Wallace
Charles Stevens Seale R. Andrew Taggart , Jr.
WISE CARTER CHILD & CARAWAY Clay B. Baldwin
P.O. Box 651 TAGGART, RIMES & USRY, PLLC
Jackson, MS 39205-0651 P. O. Box 3025
Madison, MS 39130
Harold Pizzetta, III,
Chief, Civil Litigation Division
Justin L. Matheny Cory T. Wilson
Office of the Attorney General WILLOUGHBY LAW GROUP, PLLC
P.O. Box 220 602 Steed Road
Jackson, MS 39205 Suite 110
Ridgeland, MS 39157
Robert L. Gibbs
Matthew W. Allen
BRUNINI, GRANTHAM, GROWER &
HEWES
P. O. Drawer 119
Jackson, MS 39205-0119
Crystal Wise Martin
Hinds County Board of Supervisors
Attorney
P. O. Box 686
Jackson, MS 39205-0686
This 25th day of April, 2011.
s/Robert B. McDuff
Counsel for the Applicant for Intervention
