Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Brenda Wagner Sumner

Correspondence
January 28, 1985

Cite this item

Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Brenda Wagner Sumner preview

Document text

The following text has been generated automatically during the document scanning process. It may contain errors, omissions, or incorrect formatting. Please refer to the PDF document if this text is not usable.

Download

By downloading, publishing, or reusing the Materials outside of the Website, you hereby confirm and attest that you have read and agree to the LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use linked below. We draw your attention to the following:

For those Materials owned by LDF, your use of the Material outside the Site is solely for one or more of the following (the “Permitted Purposes”):

Non-commercial research and private study;
Teaching, scholarship and instruction (including distance learning);
Non-commercial print and non-commercial online use;
Criticism, comment or news reporting; or
For people with visual disabilities (See Section 121 of the Copyright Act).
For those Materials not owned by LDF you understand that:
- It is your responsibility to determine whether the way you plan to use the materials falls within the copyright exception of Fair Use.
- For any use outside of Fair Use, it is your responsibility to seek and obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders.

LDF hereby grants you the right to use LDF owned Materials for the Permitted Purposes without seeking further permission from LDF.

If you publish or redistribute any Materials (including excerpts and quotes), you must include a credit line and/or proper citation to the source of the Material. However, you may not use the name of LDF in any manner which creates any false association between you and LDF or that incorrectly implies any sponsorship or endorsement of you by LDF.

NOTICE: Uses that do not comply with these Terms or that do not fall under Fair Use (or another exception) may make you liable for copyright infringement.

Read the full LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use Here.

I agree to the terms and conditions for use of this content.

If you would like to use this content in other ways, contact us at .

Matter
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
Case
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
U.S. state
- General
Collection
- Legal Department General
Taxonomy
Identifier
- 29f3de61-e892-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873

Cite this item

Legal Department General, Lani Guinier Correspondence. Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Brenda Wagner Sumner, 1985. 29f3de61-e892-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/9cf01ece-d5b6-4dab-9e46-9076841a3877/correspondence-from-lani-guinier-to-brenda-wagner-sumner. Accessed December 06, 2025.

Copied!

Lesa,EerenseH.

January 28, 1985

Brenda Wagner Sumner, Esq.
P. O. Box 6157
Rocky Mount, N. C. 27802

Dear Brenda:

The lawsuit against the method of election
for school board in Wilkes County, Georgia
(press release attached) is very similar to
the one we discussed in Halifax. I am very
glad to have met you and to have had a chance
to taIk. I will keep in touch.

Lani Guinier

LG/ X
Enclosure

bcc: Deborah Fins, Esq.
LesIie Winner, Esq.

Conlrihutions arr duluetiblc lor U.S. inront la.r pilrpos(s

The NAACP LEGAL oEFENSE & EDUCATIoNAL FUND is not part of the National Association lor the Advancemenl of Colored People although it
was tounded by it and shares its commitmenl to equal rights. LDF has had tor over 25 years a separale Board, prog ram, stall, otlice and budget

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
99 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10013o(212) 219'1900

@rpurtment fiUantire

FOR II',IMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, JANUARY IO, 1985

CR
202-633-20 19

The Departmerit of Justice filed civil suits today

challenging election systems in Georgia and New Mexico as

discriminatory against btack and Hispanic voters.

Assistant Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds, head

of the Departmentrs Civil Rights Division, said suits h,ere filed

against the method of electing the Wilkes County, Georgia, Board

of Education; the Chaves County, New I'lexico, Board of

Commissioners; and the RosweIl, New Mexicor Independent SchooI

District Board of Education.

The wilkes county suit, which was filed in u.s. District

Court in Augusta, Georgia, charged that the voting districts

four members of the board of education are malapportioned on

basis of population well in excess of constitutionally

permissible limits.
One district, which has a majority of black residents,

contains a population of 5r171, compared with a mathematically

ideal district size of 2,740.

The suit said the malapportionment, which packs more than

half of the countyrs black population into the one district,

impermissible submerges the voting strength of btack citizens.

for
the

(MORE )

The suit also stated that the state and county have a long

history of discrimination against black voters, the board of

education has been unresponsive to the interests of blacks, and

no black has ever been elected to a county oifi". in this

century.

The suit asked the court to declare that the malapportioned

voLing system violates the Voting Rights Act, to enjoin use of

the system in future elections, and to order officials to develop

a constitutionally apportioned plan for the election of board of

education members.

The other suit, which vras filed in u.s. District court in

AlbuquerQUe, New Mexico, charged that the use of at-large

election systems for the Chaves County commissioners and the

Roswell Board of Education results in Hispanic voters having less

opportunity to seek public office and elect candidates of their

choice.

Under at-large election systems, voters from throughout the

county or school district vote on all candidates, rather than by

single-member district.

Chaves County, which is 30.5 percent Hispanic, has three

commissioners. Roswell, which has a 40.3 percent Hispanic school

enrollment, has five school board members.

The suit said the at-large system has discouraged Hispanics

from seeking election to the board of county commissioners, and

no Hispanic has ever been elected to an office that is selected

on a county-wide or at-Iarge basis.

( MORE )

The suit also noted that only one Hispanic has ever been

elected to the school board, in 1981r although a number of

Hispanics have sought election.

The suit said the county commissioners and school board have

been unresponsive and insensitive to the interests of the

Hispanic community.

If the commissioners and school board were elected from

single-member districtsr Hispanics would be in a voting majority

in some districts and would have a reasonable opportunity to

elect candidates of their choice, the suit said.

The suit asked the court to declare that the at-Iarge

systems violate the Voting Rights Act, to enjoin their use in

future elections, and to order officials to devise an election

systern that meets the requirements of federal laur.

****

DOIaruot

T/ln*o /,,^
Phyllis McClu

January 23, 1985

T0: Barry
TeddY
Lan:.
Napoleon

Note these 2 Votinq Rights

cases school boards.

req

Copyright notice

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.

Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Brenda Wagner Sumner

Matter

Case

U.S. state

Collection

Taxonomy

Identifier

Cite this item

Copyright notice

Additional info

You may also be interested in