Redistricting challenge in St. Landry Parish
Discussions concerning a pending St. Landry Parish reapportionment trial drew attorneys from Washington, D.C., today to U.S. District Judge Tucker Melancon's court in Lafayette.
"Honestly, what went on there, was a lot of lawyers talking," said Jon Greenbaum, a Voting Rights Project attorney representing the St. Landry Parish chapter of the NAACP. "There was no change in the trial schedule," which sets a January court date for start of trial, he said. ...
A minority-majority district is one in which the minority population is in the high 50 percent, Greenbaum said. In St. Landry Parish there are three district that meet that number, Districts 2, 3 and 10.
Objections to the plan included allegations that minority numbers were even further packed into the three existing districts rather than creating a fourth.
The NAACP is seeking fourth and fifth districts. ...
"The major difference between the two sides relates to whether or not black voters have an effective opportunity to vote in a candidate of their choice or not.
"District 1 and 12 will be the focus," [Gerald Hebert, attorney for the St. Landry Parish Council and St. Landry Parish School Board] said. -- Judge meets with lawyers in parish redistricting challenge (Opelousas Daily World)
Greenbaum is with the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.