Citations
- 702 F. Supp. 588
Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM
MERHIGE, District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs’ complaint challenging the current method of electing the Board of supervisors in Henrico County, Virginia. Plaintiffs allege that the county districting plan, put into effect in 1981, impermissibly denies or abridges plaintiffs’ rights to vote on account of race in violation of § 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 1973, and was adopted and is being maintained purposefully to dilute black voting strength in violation of the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs seek in-junctive and declaratory relief and have submitted two proposed redistricting plans for the Court’s consideration. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(a)(3) and (4), 2201, 2202 and 42 U.S.C. § 1973j(f).
For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds from the evidence at trial that the county’s electoral districting scheme violates § 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Because the Court finds the current plan invalid under § 2, it is unnecessary to reach the constitutional issues. The Court will grant the defendants seventy five (75) days to submit an acceptable remedial plan.
I. Background
The individual plaintiffs in this case, Mattie S. McDaniels, Frank J. Thornton, Sr., Carl McMillian, Sam Creighton, Charles E. Scott, Francis J. Justis, Reverend Reginald Stevens, Helen E. Harris, C.W. Archer, Sa-nada Lindsey, Sadie C. Sears, David Goodall, Sr., Elliot M. Harris, Robert Melvin, Jr., John E. McNeil, Sr., Alonzo Anderson, Walter Bullock, Leamon Clayton, Jr., are adult black residents of Henrico County, Virginia. All of the individual plaintiffs are citizens and registered voters of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The organizational plaintiffs, the Henrico County Civic League, the Montezuma Oak-Hill Civic Association and the Henrico Political Task Force, are nonprofit organizations founded by residents of Henrico County. The defendants in this action are the members of the Board of Supervisors of Henrico County, the members of the Electoral Board of Henrico County and the Registrar of voters for Henrico County. All of the defendants are white.
Henrico County is an urban and suburban county surrounding Richmond, Virginia on the west, north and east. According to the 1980 Census, the total population of Henrico County is 180,735, of which 27,096, or 15.0% are black. Census data for 1960 revealed that 5.1% of the county population was black at that time, and in 1970 the Census showed that the percentage of blacks in the county had increased to 6.5%.
Since 1938, Henrico County has been governed by a Board of Supervisors whose members are elected from single-member districts. The current Board is comprised of five Supervisors, each elected by a plurality vote for a four-year term. The County’s five magisterial districts are: Brook-land, Fairfield, Three Chopt, Tuckahoe and Varina.
Following issuance of the 1980 Census data, the Henrico County Planning Office determined that the population of the five districts was malapportioned. In the spring of 1981, County Planner Cheryl P. Evans redrew the district lines in an effort to bring the county back into compliance with the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote. After the 1981 redistricting, the racial composition of the magisterial districts was as follows:
Total Black Percent % Total Black
Brookland 35,498 4,127 11.6 15.2
Total Black Percent % Total Black
36,709 15,724 58.0 Fairfield oq C