Plaintiff-Intervenors Houston Lawyers First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents to Defendants

    May 8, 1989 

Renea Hicks, Esq. 
Javier Guajardo, Esq. 
Attorney General’s Office 
P.O. BOX 12548 

Austin, TX 78711 

Re: IUILAC, et al, v. Mattox. et al. 
  

Dear Counsel: 

Enclosed please find Plaintiff-Intervenors Houston Lawyers’ 
Association’s First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for 
Production of Documents to defendants in the above captioned 
case. All counsel of record have been served. 

I look forward to your timely response. 

  

    
yn A. Ifill 

1 for Plaintiff-Intervenors 

  

NINETY NINE HUDSON STREET, 16th FLOOR ° (212) 219-1900 ° NEW YORK, N.Y. 10013 

 



IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

MIDLAND-ODESSA DIVISION 

LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, 

(LULAC), et al., 

PLAINTIFF, 

Houston Lawyers’ Association, Alice Bonner, 
Weldon Berry, Francis Williams, Rev. William. 
Lawson, Deloyd T. Parker, Bennie McGinty, 

Plaintiff-Intervenors 

Vv. 3 ; No. MO-88-CA-154 

JAMES MATTOX, Attorney General of 
the State of Texas, et al., 

DEFENDANTS. 

PLAINTIFF-INTERVENORS HOUSTON LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION'S 
FIRST SET OF INTERROGATORIES AND REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION 

OF DOCUMENTS TO DEFENDANTS 

  

  

  

Pursuant to Rules 33 and 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure, plaintiffs request that defendants answer fully in 

writing and under oath each of the following interrogatories 

within 15 days after service. These interrogatories shall be 

deemed continuing to the extent required by Fed. R. Civ. 26(e). 

In answering each interrogatory, defendants are requested to 

identify separately and in a manner suitable for use in a 

subpoena all sources of information (whether human, documentary, 

or other) and all records maintained by the defendants or by any 

other person or organization on which the defendants relied in 

answering the interrogatories.  



  

For each request to produce, plaintiffs request that 

defendants produce all requested documents at the law office of 

Gabrielle K. McDonald, 301 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas, 78701, 

within 15 days after service or at such time and place as is 

mutually agreed upon by counsel for the parties. 

Definitions 

1. “Identify” when referring to a fact or document, means state 

the name and date of the fact or document, the type of document, 

the identity of the author of the document, and the location of 

the document or a copy of the document. 

2. ”"Identify,” when referring to a person, means state the name, 

race, home and business address and position with any defendant 

or relation to any defendant, if any. | 

3. “Document” means ‘the original or identical copy of any 

document (including "writings, drawings, graphs, charts, 

photographs, phonorecords, audio recordings, and other data 

compilations from which information can be obtained, translated, 

if necessary, by the plaintiffs through detection services into 

reasonably usable form) and any tangible things which constitute 

or contain matters within the scope of Rule 26(b) of the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure. ; 

4. “Relating to” a subject means containing, embodying, 

referring to, comprising, reflecting, explaining, or having a 

logical, factual or causal connection with the subject. 

 



5. “The Voting Rights Act” means the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 

as amended, 42. U.S.C. §1973, et seq. 

Interrogatories and Requests to Produce 
  

INTERROGATORY NO. 1: Identify each expert you have consulted in   

preparation for the trial of this matter. For each, give the 

subject matter on which the expert was consulted. 

  

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 1: Please produce for inspection and 

copying all documents you have directly or indirectly provided to 

or prepared for, each expert listed in response to Interrogatory 

No. 1, and any documents prepared by each expert for the use of 

the defendants in this case, or which relates to the claims or 

defenses of defendant-intervenor Wood. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 2: Identify how many residents of Harris   

County were registered to vote during each of the following 

years: 1940, 1950, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1982, 

1984, 1986, 1988. 

  

INTERROGATORY NO. 3: For each year listed above, identify how 

many registered voters were white, how many were Black, how many 

were Hispanic, and how many were any other race.  



INTERROGATORY NO. 4: Fully describe the requirements for   

registering to vote in the .state of Texas including any 

qualifications, tests, taxes or other prerequisites to 

registration during each of the following years: 1940, 1950, 

1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988, 

and cite the statutory or wedtiten authorities upon which your 

descriptions are. based. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 5: Identify every civil action, (indicating   

case name, civil action number and citation) filed since 1950 

against the State of Texas, any agency, department or appointed 

body of the State of Texas or any county, municipality or 

township in Texas, which alleged discrimination on the basis of 

race, a denial of equal protection to Black residents, or a 

violation of any statute which protects or protected civil 

rights, including but not limited to the right to vote. Include 

any action claiming discrimination in. employment or in the 

provision of state or municipal services. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 6: Identify every instance in which the U.S.   

Department of Justice, the United States Department of Health, 

Education and Welfare, the U.S. Department of Health & Human 

Services, the United States Department of Education or any other 

federal agency or department has investigated any claim, charge 

or suspicion of racial discrimination against Blacks in Texas 

since 1950.  



  

  

INTERROGATORY NO. 7: Identify and fully describe each and every 

state policy or rationale which you contend supports the adoption 

or maintenance of the currently constituted at large system of 

electing district judges in Texas. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 8: Identify and fully describe the reasons why   

defendants contend Article 5, §7a(i) of the Texas Constitution 

was adopted. 

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 3: Please provide for inspection and   

copying any documents which support your answer to Interrogatory 

No. 8, or on which you base your answer to Interrogatory No. 8. 

  

INTERROGATORY NO. 9: State whether you have prepared, or have 

had prepared, any analysis of past and/or current voting 

practices of any ethnically or racially identifiable group of 

voters in Texas for the purpose of attempting to determine 

whether racially polarized voting has occurred, or continues to 

occur, in the State. 

  

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 4: If your answer to Interrogatory 

No. 9 is yes, please produce all documents which indicate the 

results of the analysis. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 10: Describe fully the specialized functions   

of district judges in Harris County, including, but not limited 

 



to: the types of specialized district judges (i.e, criminal, 

civil, juvenile); the qualifications necessary for each type of 

specialized judge; the number of judges currently serving in each 

specialized area, their names, and the number of the district in 

which they serve. 

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 5: Please produce for inspection and   

copying all documents . on which you base your answer to 

Interrogatory No. 10. 

INTERROGATORY NO. 11: State whether the State of Texas, Harris   

County or any of their subdivisions, offices or personnel, have 

kept or currently keep information related to the race of 

registered voters, or the racial composition of election 

precincts in Texas in general, and/or in Harris County in 

® specific. 

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 6: Please produce for inspection and   

copying all documents on which you base your answer to 

Interrogatory No. 11. o 

ecrully submitted, 

A. Sp 
dn LIUS bd GAMBIT 
SHERRILYN A. IFILL 

NAACP Legal Defense & 
Educational Fund, Inc. 
99 Hudson Street, 16th Floor 
New York, New York 10013 
(212) 219-1900 

  

 



  

Of Counsel: 

Matthews & Branscomb 

A Professional Corporation 

May Y, 1989 

GABRIELLE K. MCDONALD 
301 Congress Avenue 

Suite 2050 
Austin, Texas 78701 
(512) 320-5055 

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Intervenors 
Houston Lawyers’ Association, 

et al. 

 



  

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on this xe day of May, 1989, a true 

and correct copy of the foregoing Plaintiff-Intervenors Houston 

Lawyers’ Association’s First Set of Interrogatories and Requests 

For Production to Defendants was mailed to counsel of record in 

this case by first class United States mail, postage pre-paid, as 

follows: 

William L. Garrett 
Brenda Hull Thompson 
Garrett, Thompson & Chang 
8300 Douglas, Suite 800 
Dallas, TX 75225 

Rolando L. Rios 
Southwest Voter Registration 

Education Project 
201 N. St. Mary’s, Suite 521 
San Antonio, TX 78205 

Susan Finkelstein 
Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc. 
201 N. St. Mary’s, Suite 521 
San Antonio, TX 78205 

Edward B. Cloutman, III 
Mullinax, Wells, Baab & 

Cloutman, P.C. 
3301 Elm 
Dallas, TX 75226-9222 

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

Austin, TX 78711 

J. Eugene Clements 
John E. 0’Neill 
Evelyn V. Keys 
Porter & Clements 
700 Louisiana, Suite 3500 
Houston, TX 77002-2730 

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

Ken Oden 

Travis County Attorney 
P.O. BOW 1748 

Austin, TX 78767 

David R. Richards 
Special Counsel 
600 W. 7th St. 

Austin, TX 78701 

Robert H. Mow, Jr. 
Hughes & Luce 
2800 Momentum Place 

1717 Main Street 
Dallas, TX 75201 

- 

Hl 
  

Spee a. Ifil1 Vv 
Attorney for Plaintiff- ~IAtervencrs 
Houstorp Lawyers’ Association