Rios-Andino v. Orange County

51 F. Supp. 3d 1215, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144029, 2014 WL 4978559
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 21, 2014
DocketCase No. 6:12-cv-1188-ORL-22KRS
StatusPublished

This text of 51 F. Supp. 3d 1215 (Rios-Andino v. Orange County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rios-Andino v. Orange County, 51 F. Supp. 3d 1215, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144029, 2014 WL 4978559 (M.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANNE C. CONWAY, District Judge.

This case presents a challenge to the redistricting plan adopted after the 2010 Census by Orange County, Florida (the “County”) for the six single-member districts of the Board of County Commissioners (“BCC”). Plaintiffs Zoraida Rios-An-dino, Ney Rivera Garcia, and Rosario Martinez (“Plaintiffs”), three residents of Orange County, argued that the County’s redistricting plan violated Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the voting strength of, Latino citizens of Orange County. Specifically, Plaintiffs asserted that the County’s 2011 Redistricting Plan split a Latino population that comprised a near-majority in one district, [1218]*1218and routinely elected the candidate of its choice, between that district and another, adjacent, district, thereby eliminating the Latino population’s ability to elect its chosen candidate to the BCC.

After finding material issues of fact that precluded summary judgment in favor of the County, the Court conducted a six-day bench trial. At the conclusion of the parties’ evidence on the Gingles preconditions,1 the Court announced its intention to enter Judgment on Partial Findings pursuant to Rule 52(c), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in favor of the County.2 Although the Court gave a brief statement of its reasoning at that time, this Memorandum Opinion and Order, as well as the accompanying judgment, will be entered to satisfy Rule 52(a).

I. SECTION TWO OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

“Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an important step in the struggle to end discriminatory treatment of minorities who seek to exercise one of the most fundamental rights of our citizens: the right to vote.” Bartlett v. Strickland, 556 U.S. 1, 10, 129 S.Ct. 1231, 1240, 173 L.Ed.2d 173 (2009). Section Two of the Act “bars all States and their political subdivisions from maintaining any voting ‘standard, practice, or procedure’ that ‘results in a denial or abridgement of the right ... to vote on account of race or color.’ ” Reno v. Bossier Parish Sch. Bd., 520 U.S. 471, 479, 117 S.Ct. 1491, 1498, 137 L.Ed.2d 730 (1997) (alterations in original) (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1973(a)). “The essence of a § 2 claim is that a certain electoral law, practice, or structure interacts with social and historical conditions to cause an inequality in the opportunities enjoyed by black and white voters to elect their preferred representatives.” Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30, 47, 106 S.Ct. 2752, 2764, 92 L.Ed.2d 25 (1986). Discriminatory intent need not be demonstrated; discriminatory effect is sufficient. Bossier Parish Sch. Bd., 520 U.S. at 481-82, 117 S.Ct. 1491. Under Section Two, a violation occurs when,

based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) of this section in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.

42 U.S.C. § 1973(b).

In Thornburg v. Gingles, the Supreme Court set out three “necessary preconditions” that courts must find before turning to the “totality of circumstances” standard articulated in the statute: (1) the minority group must be “sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a [1219]*1219majority in a single-member district,” (2) the minority group must be “politically cohesive,” and (3) the majority must vote “sufficiently as a bloc to enable it ... usually to defeat the minority’s preferred candidate.” 478 U.S. at 50-51, 106 S.Ct. 2752. These preconditions apply to a § 2 challenge to a single-member district, Shaw v. Hunt, 517 U.S. 899, 914, 116 S.Ct. 1894, 1905, 135 L.Ed.2d 207 (1996) (citing Growe v. Emison, 507 U.S. 25, 113 S.Ct. 1075, 122 L.Ed.2d 388 (1993)), including an allegation that “the manipulation of dis-tricting lines fragments politically cohesive minority voters among several districts or packs them into one district or a small number of districts, and thereby dilutes the voting strength of members of the minority population,” id. (citing Johnson v. De Grandy, 512 U.S. 997, 1007, 114 S.Ct. 2647, 2655, 129 L.Ed.2d 775 (1994)).

Determining whether, based on the totality of circumstances, a state or political subdivision violated Section Two “requires a ‘searching practical evaluation of the past and present reality.’ ” Ga. State Conference of the NAACP v. Fayette Cnty. Bd. of Comm’rs, 950 F.Supp.2d 1294, 1297-98 (N.D.Ga.2013) (quoting Gingles, 478 U.S. at 45, 106 S.Ct. 2752). To aid in this evaluation, courts turn to seven key factors set forth in the Senate Judiciary Committee Report accompanying the 1982 amendments to Section Two, commonly referred to as the “Senate factors.” Gingles, 478 U.S. at 44-45, 106 S.Ct. 2752 (citing S. Rep. No. 97-417, at 28-29 (1982), reprinted in 1982 U.S.C.C.A.N. 177). Those factors are:

1.The extent of any history of official discrimination in the state or political subdivision that touched the right of members of the minority group to register, to vote, or otherwise to participate in the democratic process;
2. The extent to which voting in the elections of the state or political subdivision is racially polarized;
3. The extent to which the state or political subdivision has used unusually large election districts, majority vote requirements, anti-single shot provisions, or other voting practices or procedures that may enhance the opportunity for discrimination against the minority group;
4. If there is a candidate slating process, whether the members of the minority group have been denied access to that process;
5. The extent to which members of the minority group in the state or political subdivision bear the effects of discrimination in such areas as education, employment and health, which hinder the ability to participate effectively in the political process;
6. Whether political campaigns have been characterized by overt or subtle racial appeals; [and]
7. The extent to which members of the minority group have been elected to public office in the jurisdiction.

S. Rep. No. 97-417, at 28-29 (1982) (footnotes omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
51 F. Supp. 3d 1215, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144029, 2014 WL 4978559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rios-andino-v-orange-county-flmd-2014.