Press Release on Major v. Treen Louisiana Reapportionment Case

Press Release
March 7, 1983

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Press Release on Major v. Treen Louisiana Reapportionment Case preview

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  • Case Files, Major v. Treen Hardbacks. Press Release on Major v. Treen Louisiana Reapportionment Case, 1983. 107eec04-ca03-ef11-a1fd-6045bddbf119. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/2220eec0-f8e1-4458-860b-61e5c37ba88d/press-release-on-major-v-treen-louisiana-reapportionment-case. Accessed November 05, 2025.

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    NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 e (212) 586-8397 

Patrice Miles 

Public Relations Director 

(212) 586-8397 

  

Lani Guinier 

LDF Attorney 

(504) 524-0016 

James Kellogg 
Stan Halpin 
LDF Cooperating Attorneys 

(504) 524-0016 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, March 7, 1983--The NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund, Inc. will go to trial in federal district court 

today in Major v. Treen to enjoin the reapportionment of the 
  

Louisiana congressional electoral districts, arguing that the plan 

is in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. 

Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and 

Fducational Fund, Inc. stated that the case "is significant beacuse 

it deals with discrimination in one of America's largest cities and 

because it is the first congressional restricting case to be tried 

after the enactment: of the Voting Rights Act." 

The Plan draws boundaries for the congressional district encompassing 

Orleans Parish in such a way that blacks, although constituting a 

majority of New Orleans' population, would be a minority in each of 

the two new congressional districts. 

(more) 

Contributions are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes 

The NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIONAL FUND is not part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People although it 
was founded by itand shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 25 years a separate Board, program, staff, office and budget.  



The Justice Department accepted the "bonald Duck” 

oddly-shaped districts that fracture the concentration of the 

minority vote. LDF is pursuing the matter in court because the 

Department ignored evidence of blatant racial intent and a dis- 

criminatory result. 

In January, the Justice Department conceded that a memoradum 

purporting to explain why the diluted plan should be accepted was 

backdated to justify the Assistant Attorney General's over-ruling 

the recommendations of his staff experts that the plan was 

objectionable. 

Among the witnesses scheduled to testify on behalf of the black 

plaintiffs is Mayor "Dutch" Morial. The state's Republican 

Governor, David Treen, a defendant in the case, is scheduled to 

testify about his motivation in threatening to veto a majority 

black congressional district for the city of New Orleans. 

Major v. Treen is one of the first cases to be tried under the 
  

new strengthened Voting Rights Act in which the black plaintiffs 

can prevail without showing defendant's intent but by proving that 

the plan fractured a concentration of minority voters, resulting 

in dilution of their voting strength.

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