Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
motion demonstrates that Governor Riley’s Executive Order 44 and Task Force
raids are changes affecting voting and that plaintiffs are not asking this Court to
precleared the substance of these amendments under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act.”
Doc. 13 at 7. Rather, when the U.S. Attorney General precleared Amendments 743
the voters in Greene County and Macon County to approve their adoption.1 The
Alabama Constitution had been the subject of Amendment 555, which in 1994 for
1
“This refers to Act Nos. 2003-75, 2003-124, 2003-189, 2003-377, and
2003-433, which schedule the November 4, 2003, special constitutional
amendment elections in Conecuh, Macon, Marshall, Tallapoosa, and Greene
Counties, and Act No. 2003-287, which schedules the November 18, 2003, special
constitutional amendment election in Chambers County, Alabama, submitted to the
Attorney General pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.
1973c.” Doc. 12-2 at 1.
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 3 of 17
the first time in Alabama history authorized counties to exercise a degree of “home
rule” without first seeking the approval of a statewide electorate. When the U.S.
Attorney General precleared Amendment 555, he was concerned only that this
statewide electorate.2 This voting rights concern would be present whether a local
2
As the Assistant Attorney General’s letter stated:
Governor Riley believes that the electronic bingo machines operating under
the authority of Amendments 743 and 744 and the Sheriffs’ regulations
He issued Executive Order 44 and created the Task Force “for the purpose of
added). Thus, it is Governor Riley’s view that electronic bingo can only be
3
Indeed, Governor Riley’s motion restates his position that all electronic
bingo machines are categorically unlawful. Doc. 13 at 12. This is the position he
took most recently in the Alabama Supreme Court. Ex parte State ex rel. Riley v.
Cornerstone Community Outreach, Inc., 2010 WL 2034825 (Ala., May 21, 2010)
at *24 (“The Governor has taken the position that the term ‘bingo’ in the local
amendments is a reference to the game traditionally known as bingo, i.e., a game
that is not played by or within the electronic or computerized circuitry of a
machine, but one that is played on physical cards (typically made of cardboard or
paper) and that requires meaningful interaction between those who are playing and
someone responsible for calling out the randomly drawn designations
corresponding to designations on the players’ cards.”). In an earlier case Governor
Riley had not taken this hard stance. Barber v. Cornerstone Community Outreach,
Inc., 2009 WL 3805712 (Ala., Nov. 13, 2009) at *11 (“For purposes of the present
case, the Riley defendants do not contend that a ‘bingo game’ must be played only
on paper cards, and we, therefore, do not address that issue.”).
4
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 5 of 17
in Greene County and Macon County do not have the power to approve electronic
bingo. That is Governor Riley’s explicit purpose for his actions, and that is the
“factual contexts” that constitute changes affecting voting, and thus fall within the
coverage of § 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c, are “changes in the
composition of the electorate that may vote for candidates for a given office.”
Presley v. Etowah County Comm’n, 502 U.S. 491, 502-03 (1992). In the instant
case, defendant Riley, relying on the authority he claims to have been given him by
bingo in Greene County and Macon County. For purposes of enforcing the Voting
Rights Act, there is no material difference between voting for a candidate for office
To enforce § 5 of the Voting Rights Act, this Court is not required to inquire
into, much less to resolve, disputes about the validity of electronic bingo under
state law. The U.S. Supreme Court has “established that an election practice may
be ‘in force or effect’ for § 5 purposes despite its illegality under state law if, as a
5
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 6 of 17
practical matter, it was ‘actually in effect.’” Riley v. Kennedy, 553 U.S. 406, 128
S.Ct. 1970, 1984 (2008) (citations omitted). Defendant Riley does not and cannot
dispute the fact, as alleged in the complaint, that Amendments 743 and 744 and the
been in force and effect since 2003.4 They have never been invalidated in a
judicial proceeding, unlike the statute at issue in Riley v. Kennedy. Governor Riley
overruled Local Amendments 743 and 744. See Doc. 4 at 13 and Doc. 12-3.
4
Macon County Greyhound Park, Inc. v. Knowles, --- So.3d ----, 2009 WL
4016073 (Ala., Nov. 20, 2009) at *1 (bold emphasis added) (“In force at all times
relevant to this action were the ‘Second Amended and Restated Bingo Regulations
for the Licensing and Operation of Bingo Games in Macon County’ (“the sheriff's
regulations”), promulgated by the Macon County sheriff pursuant to Amendment
No. 744.”); accord, Hope for Families & Community Service, Inc. v. Warren, ---
F.Supp.2d ----, 2010 WL 2629408 (M.D.Ala., June 30, 2010) at *46. See also
Macon County Investments, Inc. v. Warren, 2007 WL 3441995 (M.D.Ala., Jan. 5,
2009) at *1, aff’d 306 Fed.Appx. 478, 2009 WL 19346 (11th Cir. 2009) (“In
reciting the facts, the court construes the evidence in a light most favorable to the
nonmovants. Amendment 744 to the Alabama Constitution made the operation of
bingo gaming by nonprofit organizations legal in Macon County, Alabama. Ala.
Const. Amend. No. 744. Amendment 744 also authorized the sheriff of Macon
County to ‘promulgate rules and regulations for the licensing and operation of
bingo games within the county.’” Id.).
The regulations of the Greene County Sheriff are attached to this brief as
Exhibit A, and the regulations of the Macon County Sheriff are Exhibit B.
6
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 7 of 17
Order and Task Force in 2008, Doc. 13 at 9, and he proceeded to “seiz[e],” Doc. 13
at 12, the electronic bingo machines that had been operating under the regulations
and enforcement powers of the Sheriffs of Greene and Macon Counties for over six
years. Under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act, this Court is not concerned about
whether or not defendants Riley and Tyson have “misinterpreted the ‘bingo’
amendments found in the Alabama Constitution.” Doc. 13 at 16. Its sole concern
defendants have changed a policy or practice that has been in force and effect for
Even if the Alabama Supreme Court, not Governor Riley, had declared the
operation of electronic bingo machines under Amendments 743 and 744 invalid –
which it has not done, the change in standards, practices, or procedures effected by
the ruling would have been subject to § 5 preclearance. “We have also stated that
state court.’” Riley v. Kennedy, 128 S.Ct. at 1982 (citing Branch v. Smith, 538 U.S.
254, 262, (2003); Hathorn v. Lovorn, 457 U.S. 255, 265-266, and n. 16 (1982)).
To the extent the Alabama Supreme Court rulings uphold Governor Riley’s
Order 44, see Doc. 4-1, those rulings too must receive § 5 preclearance before they
7
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 8 of 17
may be enforced.
preclude the Governor from fulfilling his constitutional obligation to ‘take care that
the laws be faithfully executed.’ ALA. CONST. Art V, § 120.” Doc. 13 at 22. But
the undisputed facts show that defendant Riley has not attempted to enforce the
provisions of Amendments 743 and 744 and the Sheriffs’ regulations promulgated
under them. Instead, he has attempted to veto or to nullify those local amendments
and regulations, effectively denying the right to vote of the county electorates who
approved them. Under the Voting Rights Act, this Court must look to the practical
8
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 9 of 17
Foreman, 521 U.S. at 980, 117 S.Ct. 2357 (quoting NAACP, 470 U.S.
at 178, 105 S.Ct. 1128); Allen, 393 U.S. at 565 n. 3, 89 S.Ct. 817.
“Nor does it matter for the preclearance requirement whether the
change works in favor of, works against, or is neutral in its impact
upon the ability of minorities to vote. It is change that invokes the
preclearance process; evaluation of that change concerns the merits of
whether the change should in fact be precleared.” Young, 520 U.S. at
285, 117 S.Ct. 1228 (citations omitted).
Connors v. Bennett, 202 F.Supp.2d 1308, 1317 (M.D. Ala. 2002) (3-judge court)
(per Hull, J.). See also Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 563 (1964) (“One must be
modes of discrimination.’”) (quoting Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268, 275 (1939);
Governor Riley is not enforcing Amendments 743 and 744 or the Sheriffs’
regulations. Instead, defendant Riley has decided to use the raw power of his
executive office to overrule the voters of Greene County and Macon County, to
This is an alternative reason for finding that defendants’ actions are changes
that affect voting within the meaning of § 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Defendants’
9
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 10 of 17
constitute a change affecting voting. Doc. 13 at 20. But a careful reading of the
Presley opinion shows that defendant Riley’s appointment of the Mobile County
replacement of an elective office with an appointive one, within the rule of Bunton
First, said the Presley Court, the Etowah County Common Fund Resolution,
preceding section of this brief, Executive Order 44 does effectively change the
composition of the electorate empowered to choose which official will enforce the
5
Bunton v. Patterson was one of four cases consolidated and decided as
Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U.S. 544, 89 S.Ct. 817, 22 L.Ed.2d 1 (1969).
10
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 11 of 17
Amendments 743 and 744 create new constitutional offices to regulate and to
enforce their provisions, and they designate the elected Sheriffs of Greene and
Macon Counties to fill those offices. Defendant Riley’s executive order has
created the office of Task Force Commander, has given that officer authority over
the officer designated by the constitutional amendments, and has filled that office
with a district attorney elected in Mobile County. This diminishes the number of
officials for whom the electorates of Greene and Macon Counties may vote by de
facto replacing the elected office they created by constitutional amendment with an
appointed office. This goes way beyond merely changing the internal operations
The Presley plaintiffs failed to provide the Court with what the majority
government.” 502 U.S. at 504 (bold emphasis added). The Court refused to adopt
a rule that
502 U.S. at 505-06 (bold emphases added). No one could argue that Governor
Riley’s appointment of a Task Force Commander was a “minor” change “in the
power among officials who are members of the same local government body. To
the contrary, the Alabama Supreme Court has said that Alabama governors invoke
law enforcement powers like those in defendant Riley’s Executive Order 44 only in
“rare cases.” Tyson v. Jones, __ So.2d __, No. 1090878 (Ala., July 30, 2010) slip
op. at 39, Doc. 4-1. And the Task Force Commander is not a member of a local
government body.
County, the Presley Court held that the creation of a unit system of road
maintenance in Russell County and the transfer of power to supervise road crews
502 U.S. at 506-07 (bold emphases added). The Court then set out the express
502 U.S. at 508. In Bunton v. Patterson the Court addressed a Mississippi statute
that changed the office of school superintendent in eleven counties from an elected
13
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 14 of 17
Thus, contrary to defendants’ contention, Presley did not lay down “a bright-
line rule.” Doc. 13 at 19. Instead, it instructed lower courts to consider “the
rationale for our holding,” 502 U.S. at 506, and to assess the facts of each case in
the light of that rationale. This Court should perform the same analysis of the facts
take control of enforcing the constitution and laws of Alabama regarding electronic
elected officials with an appointed official. Those facts show that the elected
Sheriffs do not “retain[] substantial authority, including the power to appoint the
[Task Force Commander] and to set his or her budget,” as did the Russell County
the Alabama Supreme Court has ordered the Sheriffs to stand aside for the Task
14
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 15 of 17
Force Commander and to cease proceeding with the law enforcement actions they
had already begun. See Docs. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 4-1. These circumstances
elected by the voters of Greene County and Macon County with an official
appointed by the Governor over whom those voters have absolutely no control.
They are changes that affect voting within the meaning of § 5 of the Voting Rights
Act.
This three-judge court has jurisdiction to address only the limited question
whether the standards, practices, and procedures challenged in the complaint are
changes that affect voting within the meaning of § 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Presley, 502 U.S. at 495. It should reserve defendants’ arguments about the
1965, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1973; the Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3),
the United States for consideration in the event this action is remanded to the
single-judge court.
CONCLUSION
15
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 16 of 17
This Court should schedule a hearing at the earliest possible date to consider
both the defendants’ motion to dismiss and the plaintiffs’ motion for an expedited
also consider advancing the trial on the merits and consolidating it with the hearing
Following such hearing, the motion to dismiss should be denied, and the motion
for preliminary injunction restoring the status quo ante in Greene County and
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
16
Case 7:10-cv-02067-SLB Document 14 Filed 08/30/10 Page 17 of 17
I hereby certify that on August 30, 2010, I electronically filed the foregoing
with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification
of such filing to the following counsel of record:
Notice of this filing has also been sent by email and first class postage to:
17