Court Report of Raphael Cassimere, Jr. and CV

    No, 93-871

I n  T h e

Supreme Court of tfje Hntteti H>tate£
Oc t o b e r  T e r m , 1993

Sharolyn Wood,
Petitioner,

v.
Attorney General of Texas, et al.,

Respondents.

On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the 
United States Court of Appeals 

for the Fifth Circuit

BRIEF IN OPPOSITION OF RESPONDENTS LEAGUE OF 
LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, COUNCIL NO. 4434, et al.

E laine R. Jones 
Director-Counsel 
Theodore M. Shaw 

*Charles Stephen Ralston 
Gailon W, McGowen, Jr . 
NAACP Legal Defense & 

Educational Fund, Inc.
99 Hudson Street 
Sixteenth Floor 
New York, N.Y. 10013 
(212) 219-1900

Sherrilyn A. Ifill 
University of Maryland 
School of Law 
500 W. Baltimore 
Baltimore, MD 21201 
(410) 706-8391

E. Brice Cunningham 
777 S. R.L. Thornton Frwy. 
Suite 121 
Dallas, TX 75203 
(214) 428-3793

Gabrielle K. McDonald 
Walker & Satterthwaite 
7800 N. Mopac 
Suite 215
Austin, Texas 78759 
(512) 346-6801

William L. Garrett 
Brenda Hull Thompson 

8300 Douglas, Suite 800 
Dallas, TX 75225 -
(214) 369-1952

Rolando L. Rios 
Milam Building, Suite 1024 
115 E. Travis Street 
San Antonio, TX 78205 
(210) 222-2102

E dward B. Cloutman III 
Mullinax, Wells, Baab 
& Cloutman, P.C.
3301 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75226 
(214) 939-9222

* Counsel of Record
Attorneys for Respondents LULAC, et al.

PRESS OF BYRON S. ADAMS, WASHINGTON, D.C. (202) 347-8203



No. 93-871

IN THE

Supreme Court of tjje Mmteti States

October Term, 1993

Sharolyn Wood,

v.
Petitioner

Attorney General o f  Texas, et a l ,
Respondents.

On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the 
United States Court of Appeals 

for the Fifth Circuit

BRIEF IN OPPOSITION OF RESPONDENTS LEAGUE OF 
LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, COUNCIL NO. 4434, et al.

Respondents, Latin American Citizens, Council No. 
4434, et al., petitioners in No. 93-630, urge that the cross­
petition of Judge Sharolyn Wood be denied even in the event 
that this Court grants certiorari in Nos. 93-630 and 93-928.

Simply stated, the cross-petition presents no issue that 
is worthy of a grant of certiorari. The petitioner is dissatisfied 
with the position that the Attorney General of Texas and other 
duly elected state officials have taken in this litigation. The 
State officials wish to exercise their legal authority to seek a 
settlement; petitioner wants them to fight to the end. 
However, the premise upon which the cross-petition is based 
—• that a defendant’s decision to settle a case makes the 
litigation "collusive" — is wrong.



2

As described in detail in the cross-petition for a writ of 
certiorari in No. 93-928, this case has been vigorously defended 
by the State all the way to this Court Settlement negotiations 
were extensive, and an agreement — subject to a hearing and 
approval by the district court — reached that reflected a 
careful balancing of the competing interests at stake.

Cases are settled routinely and, as we have pointed out 
in the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 93-630, this Court 
has consistently made it clear that settlements are favored 
under federal law.1 The fact that the Attorney General has 
decided that it is in the best interests of the State of Texas to 
settle does not lead to the conclusion that that official has 
abandoned his duty to represent the State or allow or even 
permit a federal court to make such a judgment.

Finally, if certiorari is granted in No. 93-630 and/or No. 
93-928, Judge Wood will have every opportunity to make her 
views known on every issue, as she has been able to do at every 
stage of the litigation of this case to date.

Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, the petition for a writ of 
certiorari should be denied.

1See, e.g., Evans v. JeffD., 475 U.S. 717 (1986); Marek 
v. Chesny, 473 U.S. 1 (1985).



3

Respectfully submitted,

Elaine R. Jones 
Director-Counsel

Theodore M. Shaw 
* Charles Stephen Ralston

Gailon w . m c Gowen, Jr .
NAACP Legal Defense & 

Educational Fund, Inc. 
99 Hudson Street 
Sixteenth Floor 
New York, N.Y. 10013 
(212) 219-1900

Sherrilyn A. Ifill 
University of Maryland 
School of Law 
500 W. Baltimore 
Baltimore, MD 21201 
(410) 706-8391

E. Brice Cunningham 
777 S. R.L. Thornton Frwy. 
Suite 121 
Dallas, TX 75203 
(214) 428-3793

Gabrielle K. McDonald 
Walker & Satterthwaite 
7800 N. Mopac 
Suite 215
Austin, Texas 78759 
(512) 346-6801

William L. G a r r e t t  
Brenda Hull Thompson 

8300 Douglas, Suite 800 
Dallas, TX 75225 
(214) 369-1952

Rolando L. Rios 
Milam Building, Suite 1024 
115 E. Travis Street 
San Antonio, TX 78205 
(512) 222-2102

Edward B. Cloutman III 
Mullinax, Wells, Baab 
& Cloutman, P.C.
3301 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75226 
(214) 939-9222

* Counsel of Record
Attorneys for Respondents LULAC, et al.