Defendant Walker's Submission of Suggested Plan of Appropriate Interim Relief

    JOHN P. CAMP 

KENNETH H. JONES, JR 

PATRICK H. O'NEILL "t 

RANDY J. HALL "te 

DANIEL L. BATES" o 

®.. JONES. O'NEILL, HALL & y 

MARK S. DUGAN 

J. DAVID LUNINGHAM 

BARRY S. GREEN 

GREGORY P. BLAIES 

“MICHAEL W. MINTON 

ATTORNEYS AND 

A PROFESS 

COUNSELORS AT LAW 

ONAL CORPORATION 

2400 CITY CENTER 

301 COMMERCE STREET 

ROBERT L. WARREN FORT WORTH. TEXAS 76102 LL CHRISTOPHER J. DOYLE 

J. KEVIN CLARK t hot BRIAN K. YOST 
TELEPHONE (817) 336-2400 a 

JAMES W. WATSON" J W. MARK MIDKIFF 
JOHN W. GREENE DALLAS FCRT WORTH METRO (817) 42945260 ROBERT B. WAGSTAFF 

E. L CARAWAY. Ili FAX (817) 332-3043 WAYNE C. WATSON 
a 

RUSSELL E. WILSON AS, LEE WYATT 

JAMES LANTER + 5 
December 21, 1989 

    

  

Mr. John D. Neil 

Deputy CleX 

RE: No. MO-88-CA-154 

League of United Latin American Citizens, Counsel #4434, et 

al, and Houston Lawyers Association, et al, vs. Jim Mattox, 

et al, and Judge Sharolyn Wood and Judge F. Harold Entz 

Dear Mr. Neil: 

There is a typo in paragraph 2 of the proposed plan of Defendant 

Walker’s Submission of Suggested Plan of Appropriate Interim 

Relief. In paragraph 2 of the proposed plan on page 3, seventh 

line, it should read "the new 371st District Court in this House 

district". 

I would appreciate it if you would include this letter with the 

proposed plan for Judge Bunton’s review. 

With kindest regards, 

7) 
sinterely yours, 

[indy ll 

1 am, 

| [Hall 
Far the Firm 

RJH/banmw 

*BOARD CERTIFIED, PERSONAL INJURY TRIAL LAW, BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION, STATE BAR OF TEXAS 

+BOARD CERTIFIED, CIVIL TRIAL LAW, BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION, STATE BAR OF TEXAS 

+BOARD CERTIFIED, CIVIL TRIAL SPECIALIST, NATIONAL BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCACY 

 



Mr. John D. Neil 
December 21, 1989 

Page 2. 

Mary F. Keller 
Renea Hicks 
Jim Mattox 
Javier Guajardo 
Attorney General’s Office 
P. O. Box 12548 

Capitol Station 
Austin, Texas 78711-2548 

Edward B. Cloutman, III. 

Attorney at Law 
3301 Elm 

Dallas, Texas 75226-9222 

Viulius Levonne Chambers 
Sherrilyn A. Ifill 
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational 
Fund, Inc. 

99 Hudson Street, 16th Floor 

New York, New York 10013 

Gabrielle K. McDonald 
Attorney at Law 
301 Congress Avenue 

Austin, Texas 78701 

Michael J. Wood 
Attorney at Law 
440 Louisiana, Suite 200 
Houston, Texas 77002 

J. Eugene Clements 
John E. O’Neill 
Evelyn V. Keys 
Porter & Clements 

700 Louisiana, Suite 3500 
Houston, Texas 77002-2730 

Robert H. Mow, Jr. 
Huges & Luce 

2800 Momentum Place 

1717 Main Street 
Dallas, Texas 75201  



Mr. John D. Neil 
December 21, 1989 

Page 3. 

William L. Garrett 
Garrett, Thompson & Chang 
8300 Douglas, Suite 800 
Dallas, Texas 75225 

Rolando Rios 
Southwest Voter Registration & 
Education Project 

201 N.. st. Mary's 
Suite 521 

San Antonio, Texas 78205 

 



  

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

MIDLAND-ODESSA DIVISION 

LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN 

CITIZENS (LULACY, COUNCIL #4434, 

ET AL, 

Plaintiffs, 

and 

HCUSTON LAWYERS ASSOCIATION, 

ET Al, 

Plaintiff-Intervenors MO-88-CA-154 

vs. 

JIM MATTOX, ET AL, 

State Defendants, 
and 

JUDGE SHAROLYN WOOD and 

JUDGE F. HAROLD ENTZ, 

Defendants. 

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DEFENDANT WALKER'S SUBMISSION OF 

SUGGESTED PLAN OF APPROPRIATE INTERIM RELIEF 
  

  

TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE: 

COMES NOW the Defendant Jeff Walker, a member of the 
Judicial Districts Board, and files this his suggested 
plan of appropriate interim relief in response to this 
Court's request made to all parties and in light of this 
Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. This 
suggested plan is submitted without prejudice to the 
right of this Defendant to seek an expedited appeal and 
stay pending determination of the propriety of this 
Court's Declaratory Judgment in this action. It is 
submitted solely to aid the Court in fashioning the most 
efficient plan, consonant with the Court's ruling: for 
the upcoming judicial races presently scheduled for March 
and November, 1990. 

 



INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS 
  

) This proposal is limited tc an interim plan for 
ction of District Judges in Tarrant County, Texas. 

urteen (14) district judges are to be elected in 
primary and general elections. 

2.) of the fourteen (14) district Jjudgeships 
subject to an interim plan, twelve of the positions are 
currently held by incumbent judges; however, two judges 
have announced intentions not to file for re-election, 
one due to retirement and one due to pending appointment 
to the Federal District court bench. The remaining two 
judgeships are for newly created district courts which 
become effective September 1, 1990, and are, therefore, 
appearing on the ballot for the first time. 

3.) There exists in Tarrant County nine (9) House 
districts, all or part of which lie within the county, 
and as such provide existing subdivisions within the 
county for the proposed interim elections for the 
fourteen (14) judgeships. 

4.) On information and belief, Defendant Walker 

states that House District 95 is the district with the 

largest concentration of Black voters. 

 



  

PROPOSED PLAN 
  

Defendant Walker proposes the following interim plan 
for the election of fourteen (14) district judges in 
Tarrant County, Texas during the 1990 primary and general 
elections: 

.) The fourteen (14) district judges should be 
elected by the voters in the nine (9) House districts as 
follows: 

H.D. 89 325th District Court 

H.D. 90 141st District Court 

372nd District Court 

BH. D.+2 91 236th District Court 

H.D. 92 233d District Court 

297th District Court 

H.D. 93 322nd District Court 

H.D. 94 324ch District Court 

H.D. 95 231st District Court 

371st District Court 

H.D. 96 Criminal District Court #3 
Criminal District Court #4 

H.D. 97 323rd District Court 

Criminal District Court #1 

2.) In support of this plan, Defendant Walker would 
point out that House District 95 encompasses the area 
Plaintiffs contended was the one most highly populated by 
Black voters and is where incumbent judge of the 231st 
District Court, Maryellen Hicks, a Plaintiff-Intervenor 
herein currently resides. In addition, the inclusion of 
the new 372nd District Court in this House district 
provides the best method to correct any alleged 
under-representation of Black voters. 

3.) The designation of the courts listed in 
paragraph 2 to the respective House districts matches the 
"court-to-House district" ratio proposed by the 
Plaintiffs, Plaintiff-intervenors and the Attorney 
General in their Proposed Interim Plan but, by specifying 
particular judicial races in particular House district, 
avoids confusion in the minds of the electorate and 
permits the incumbent judge-candidate to be identified 
with his or her particular court. 

-3= 

 



4.) Residency requirements: Candidates need not be 
a resident of the House district in which they run for 
election sc long as he or she 1s a resident of Tarrant 

County, Texas for the period required by State statute. 

5.) oQualifications: As prescribed by State statute. 

8.) Filing Requirements: Provisions of State 
statutes requiring the filing of petitions and filing 
fees shall apply except the deadlines fcr filing same 
shall be extended until January 12, 1990 or fourteen (14) 
days after this plan is implemented by court order, 
whichever is later. Likewise, the deadline for 
withdrawing as a candidate is extended until January 
24,1990, or twenty-one (21) days after the Court's 
implementing order, whichever is later. Party chairs 
shall deliver the list of candidates to the Secretary of 
State by February 1,1990, or twenty-eight (28) days after 
the Court's implementing order, whichever is later. 

7.) A candidate who withdraws by the filing 
deadline in Paragraph 7 shall be reimbursed the filing 
fee paid. 

8.) To maintain continuity in the State's judiciary 
and reduce costly elections, these judgeships shall be 
for the statutory term of four (4) years even though the 
future configuration of these judicial sub-districts are 
subject to the Legislatures changes or revisions during 
or prior to its 1991 regular session. 

On information and belief, Defendant Walker 
represents to this Honorable Court that an informal poll 
has been done of the incumbent judges who are not parties 
to this suit but are affected by this interim plan and 
the general consensus is one of approval. 

Philosophical Statement: It is the hope of this 
Defendant that the proper authorities consider and 
implement non-partisan elections in the future as the 
appropriate means of selecting judges. 

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Defendant Walker, 

without waiver of his rights to challenge any order  



  

entered by this Court, respectfully requests that in the 
event an interim election plan is ordered by this Court, 
that such plan provide for the election of judges in 
Tarrant County as set forth in this submission. 

Respectfully submitted, 

  

dd Defepdant Member of the 
( Judifial Districts Board 

 



CAMP, JONES, O'NEILL, HALL & BATES 

ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW 

A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 

2400 CITY CENTER 

301 COMMERCE STREET 

FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76102 

Julius Levonne Chambers 
Sherrilyn A, Ifill 
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational 
Fund, Inc. 

99 Hudson Street, l6th Floor 
New York, New York 10013