Correspondence from Chambers to Williams
Correspondence
March 5, 1981

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Case Files, Thornburg v. Gingles Working Files - Guinier. Correspondence from Chambers to Williams, 1981. e17dff91-de92-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/20e22515-16b8-42f7-b065-f826980ff805/correspondence-from-chambers-to-williams. Accessed July 20, 2025.
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Jt,t-ll rs LEVONNE CHAMBERS JAMfS E FENGUSON. II MEt VIN L \^r'ATT JONATIIAN WALLAS XATIL ADKINS JAMES C FULLER. JR, C YVONNE MIMS JOHN W GRESHAM RONALO L, GIBSON CHAMBERS, FERGUSON. WATT. WALLAS, ADKINS & FULLER. P.A. ATTORNI YS AT LAW SUIT€ 730 EAST INOEPENOENCE PLAZA 95I SOUTH INDEPENOENCE BOULEVARO CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 2A2O2 TELEPHONE (704) 375.A461 March 5, 1981 Mr. Napoleon B. Williams, Jr. NMCP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 10 Columbus Circle - Suite 2030 New York, New York 10019 Re: NorLh Carolina Reapportionment Dear Napoleon: Thank you for your letter of February 20, 1981. You indicate ihyour letter that the Fund may be able to assisE us in our ,"- I apportionment efforts "if it turns ouL that we have the basi.s for a substantial claim." r trust that you appreciate that allrour c1Effi slre-].sub st ant ial . " During ths past three or four months, r have been meeting with Steve Suitts of the Southern Regional Council, Dr. Raymond Wheeler, also of the iouncil, and Richard Klein and Leslie Winner of Legal Services of North Carolina, exploring the possibility of some liti- gation which would encourage affirmative drawings of representative districts in order to improve the opporLunity of minorities for election to the State House or Senate or to Congress. We have been focusing on the congressional districts and the House and Senate disEricts of North Carolina. WiLh respect to the congressional districts, we get no ner/i repre- sentatives with thc 1980 Census. A bill has been submitted to the Legislature (sec Item 1 attached hereto) wl'rich basically re-establishes tl-re samc districts. Therc is a move afoot, however, to redraw the congressional districts, particularly for Mecklenburg County, the Ninth District, Guilford County, the Sixth District and Durham Countl, the Fourrh District. The changes being proposed, parricularly for the Fourth District, will improve minority opportunities. 4 ,iif!, Mr . Napoleon B. I^lilliams , Jr . March 5, 1981 Page Two Reapportionment of the House and Senate districts poses a problem because of Article l, Sf and Article 2, 55 of the North Carolina Constitution. The Constitution prohibits dividing a county for the purpose of establishing a House or Senate district (see Items 2A and 2B , memoranda of Leslie Winner, attached hereto). Steve Suittsr memorandum of September 2,1980 (Item 3) shows thaE minority election possibilities can be improved if separate districts could be established within counties or by combining two or more counties. The present population and racial composition of the House and Senate districLs are shown on Items 4 and 5. Since several North Carolina counties are now subject to $5 of the Voting Rights Act, see Items 6 and 7, we have been trying to determine if we could use 55 or 52 in trying to impose an affirmative obligation on the State in redrawing the districts. We have also looked briefly at some other possibilities (see Item 8 dealing with the Revenue Sharing Act). I am also enclosing some mi-scellaneous news articles and material. It now appears that the Legislature will have to come back in a special session. We are interested in instituting a proceeding as soon as possible challenging the SEate constitutional provisions which prohibit setting up separate districEs within counties or from establishing a district acrorss county lines and in trying to establish an affirmative obligatibn on the State in re-districting to establish districts which improve minority opportunities for participating in or in being elected to State House and Senate districts and to Congress. Our next meeting has been scheduled for March 9 at 12:30 at this office. If possible, w€ would very much like for you to attend. JLC:md Enclosures cc: SEeve Suitts Raymond Wheeler Richard Klein, Leslie Winner Sincerely yours,