Deposition Summary of Thomas Henry Routt; Plaintiff-Intervenor HLA's Revised Exhibit List

    A 
| 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE 

AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

National Office » 

Suite 1600 

99 Hudson Street 

New York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 219-1900 Fax: (212) 226-7592 

September 18, 

Hon. John Neil 
Deputy Clerk, U.S. Courthouse 
P. O. Box 10708 
200 E. Wall, Room 316 

Midland, Texas 79702 

Re: Civil Action No. MO-88-CA-154 

LULAC, et al. v. James Mattox, et. al. 

Dear Mr. Neil: 

Enclosed for filing in the above referenced case, 
Plaintiff-intervenors Houston Lawyers’ 
exhibit list. 

please find 
Association's revised 

All counsel have received copies of the depositions and have been 
served with summaries and relevant excerpts of the depositions. 

Sincerely, 

4 qu 
Sherril)yn A. Ifill 

SAI:dlw 

encl. 

Regional Offices 

Suite 301 Suite 800 

1275 K Street, NW 634 S. Spring Street 

Washington, DC 20005 Los Angeles, CA 90014 

(202) 682-1300 (213) 624-2405 
Fax: (202) 682-1312 Fax: (213) 624-0075 

Contributions are 

deductible for U.S. 
income tax purposes. 

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is not part 
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
(NAACP) although LDF was founded by the NAACP and shares its 

commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 30 years a separate 
Board, program, staff, office and budget.  



 



  

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

MIDLAND-ODESSA DIVISION 

  

  

LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN § 

CITIZENS (LULAC), et al., § 
S 

Plaintiffs, S 

S 
Houston Lawyers' Association, § 
Alice Bonner, Weldon Berry, ‘8 
Francis Williams, Rev. William § 
Lawson, Deloyd T. Parker, § 
Bennie McGinty, § CIVIL ACTION NO. MO-88-CA-154 

S 
Plaintiff-Intervenors, § 

S 
VS. § 

§ 
JAMES MATTOX, Attorney General § 
of the State of Texas, 4 

et al., § 
S 

Defendants. § 

DEPOSITION SUMMARY OF THOMAS HENRY ROUTT 

5 Background information. 

6 Discussion regarding his educational background. He 

received his J.D. 1961. 

7 He was appointed to the Municipal Court Bench in 1968. 
He left the bench 1972. 

8 In 1973 he was appointed to County Criminal Court at 

Law No. 6. He successfully returned to the bench in 

1974 and was appointed to the District Court Bench in 

1977. 

9 He has been regularly re-elected since then. In 1974 

his opponent in the primary was Bite. 

10 He had no opponent in the 1974 general election. At 

that time there was no effective Republican opposition 

for judges. He campaigned all over the county. He had 

the support of the party hierarchy. 

 



  

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The 1974 race was fairly close, which he attributes 
partly to being a racial preference, partly not belng 
as fully funded as he would have liked. He carried 
most, but not all of the Black precincts. 

He carried many predominantly all-white precincts in 
northeast Harris County. He ran without opposition in 

1978. 

Most Democratic judges did not draw an opponent in 1978 
race. 

In that era it was unusual for an incumbent to pick up 
an opponent. In 1982 he had an opponent, Marshall 

McDonald, a Republican. 

He feels that he had an opponent in 1982 for two 

reasons. First, there is an upsurge of the Republican 

Party to field candidates in many instances where it 

had not previously and second, he had had a recent 

unpopular decision and the opponent was the result of 

venting that feeling. 

His race was a factor, his being opposed in" the 

election, because, America being what it is, race is a 

factor in everything. 

In 1986 there were a number of minority opponents in 

general election. 

He had not viewed himself as being unique in being a 

minority who could maintain his elected office. 

He is not the only one. John Peavy was continually 

re-elected. He can think of only one time Peavy had an 

opponent. 

He does not know the number of Black attorneys in 

Harris County. 

There are fewer Black attorneys in Harris County than 

white attorneys. The number of Black attorneys is 

growing, but is still small. 

A minority person seeking judicial office now has a 

more difficult time than when he first had to run 

because there is increased racial hostility today. 

Societal attitudes toward race has worsened since the 

1960's. He is a Democrat. 

-iD 

 



  

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His philosophy is more liberal than the Republican 
Party. 

Blacks are strongly allied with the Democratic Party in 
Harris County. Hispanics have been strongly allied 
with the Democratic Party, but there have been some 
recent shifts to the Republican Party. Harris County 
itself has been drifting towards the Republican Party. 

This shift has had a influence in judicial races. 
There are increasing racial prejudices keeping Blacks 
from being elected to office. 

A suggestion regarding the distinction between a Black 
failing to win office because he is a Democrat and 
failing to win office because he is Black. He has seen 
figures which show that Harris County is moving toward 

the Republican Party. 

In spite of the evils attributed to partisan elections, 
he thinks that minority people need the backing of a 
party to be successful, so he does not lean toward 
non-partisan elections. Judges should not be 
representatives of political interest groups. 

The judge is bound by the law to make no determinations 
or rulings on a consensus basis. In 1986 he as 

re-elected without opposition. He hired a political 

consultant in 1974. 

He thinks he got basically PR advice. He has always 

worked with the philosophy that you give up no 

territory. 

He sought contributions from everywhere. He would 

guess that 60% of his contributions came from the 

minority people, and the other 40% from whites. He got 

contributions from both Blacks and Hispanics. 

He had no PAC contributions. He got contributions from 

white Republicans. In metropolitan areas judges should 

be elected to serve specialized functions, but in rural 

areas, courts of general jurisdiction are a must. 

Discussion as to how you would break down courts with 

specialized functions in Harris County if the county 

was broken down into subdistricts. The present system 

for electing district judges in Harris County is not 

efficient because it often allows physical attraction 

to be a main reason for election. 

 



He would like to see the present system replaced by a 
refined Missouri plan. Before the 1980 elections most 
incumbents were voted back into office. He feels that 
in 1988, party had a lot to do with the success of a 
candidate. 

The same thing was true in 1984. Individual 
consideration of candidates should be necessary. 
Straight-party voting has not been good for minorities. 
The ballot box has not been the saviour for minority 
candidates. 

He doesn't think the appointment process has hurt 
minorities. The creation of multi-district elections 
in Harris County would increase the minority 

participation in the process. 

He thinks it would minimize racial politics since it 
would decrease the opportunity for confrontation 
between races. It would be totally illogical for .a 
white to expect to be an effective candidate in a 
totally Black precinct. He attributes his own success 

to being able to appeal a wide variety of people. 

A judge should not be influenced if he is elected only 

by one minority group. In 1982 the Republicans fielded 

a slate of candidates. He does not feel they were 

slated on racial grounds. 

All of the slating he has seen has been along party 

lines. He does not feel that his opponents have made 

overt racial appeals during the elections. 

Racial appeals are not necessary in this society. 

People who find race a predominant consideration only 

need to have an identification made. He is unaware of 

any efforts to make identification of race available to 

voters who are inclined to vote as racial preferences. 

He doesn't think county-wide system is discriminatory 

just by the fact of it being county-wide. He doesn't 

know if people who work to keep the county-wide system 

in place are doing so with the intent to discriminate 

against Blacks. 

There are other minority judges in Harris County who 

have achieved success other than himself. He can't 

think of any factors which are common with a group of 

successful minority candidates.  



  

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All things being equal, white voters in Harris tend to 
vote as a block. Sometimes white will vote against 
Blacks because they perceive the white candidate as 

better. Blacks vote as a block in Harris County only 

slightly. Blacks don't vote as a block to the same 

degree extent as whites. Blacks are heavily identified 

with the Democratic Party in Harris County. 

Blacks will vote as Democrats rather than voting for 

their racial proclivities. 

EXAMINATION BY TODD 
  

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The ethnic composition. of his precinct is 98 to 39 

percent Black. He has selectively close ties to the 

Black community in Houston. 

It is important to have an awareness of the various 

communities and their socio-economic make-up to 

successfully run for office. After elections he will 

take a look to see how he ran in various areas in the 

county. In 1982 he had a general election Republican 

opponent. 

He believes he did very well in the Black precincts in 

1982. He won most of them. As best as he can recall, 

he ran very well in Hispanic precincts in 1982. 

He ran well in some white precincts and not so well in 

others. That appeared to be strongly influenced by 

socio-economics. In the white upper class areas, he did 

poorly; in the blue collar areas, he did well. That 

would almost parallel normal party voting lines. 

Assuming maximum of all ethnic groups, a candidate 

cannot win an election by carrying just the Black and 

Hispanic precincts. He has been able to draw a 

considerable portion of the white vote in his 

successful elections. 

In May and June he went all over the county to 

campaign. In 1982 he had made unpopular ruling which 

worked somewhat against him in the campaign. 

In 1986 he did not have an opponent. He was aware that 

there was three other Black Democratic judicial 

candidates who were running contested races. 

He did not campaign for any other individuals in 1986. 

A higher turnout in Black precincts in 1986 could have 

helped some candidates win the elections. 

 



  

eo ® ¢ 

EXAMINATION BY MCDONALD 
  

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He doesn't know the percentage of white turnout in 
1986. Assuming all things being equal, whites will 
vote for whites, and Blacks will vote for Blacks in a 
contested race where there is a white against a Black. 

If all registered voters turnout, Blacks will not win. 
He was appointed the municipal bench in 19268. 

When he was appointed in 1968, he was the first Black 
to ever have been appointed full-time to the Municipal 
Court Bench in Harris County. In 1973 he was appointed 

Judge of County Criminal Court at Law No. 6. No Black 

had every held that position before. 

Andrew Jefferson was the first Black to hold a position 
as a Judge in a Court of Record since Reconstruction. 
In 1974 he ran as a Democrat. 

His opponent in 1974 was Alfred Thomas, a white, whom 
he defeated in the primary. There was no opponent in 

the general election. 

He was appointed to the District Court Bench in 1977. 
He ran unopposed in the primary and the general 

election in 1978. 

In 1982 he was unopposed by the Democrats and ran 

against Marshall Arnold, a white Republican whom he 

defeated. 

He had a good campaign organization intact in 1982. He 

thinks his last name helped him in that it is not a 

name normally associated with Blacks. 

Position on the ballot can be important in the election 

outcome. First name on the ballot has a definite 

advantage percentage-wise of the vote. 

Maybe too, he also had support of a group of people who 

supported him because of his shock probation sentence 

to a judge who was before him. He had support from 

both white Republicans and Black Republicans. 

1982 was the first time Republicans ran a large slate 

of candidates. He was pretty sure they had the 

financing and the vigor to mount serious campaigns. 

He felt like he had really been campaigning since 1968. 

He ran again for the bench in 1986 with no opposition. 

iil we 

 



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During the time he has been a judge he has had an 

opponent only once in the general election, which was 

1982. His only opponent in the primary was in 1974. 

Assuming there is no gerrymandering, if you drew 

smaller districts for judicial elections, it would 

increase the number of Blacks elected. There are 

geographical areas in Houston which are composed 

primarily of Black people. 

There are areas in Houston which are predominantly 

white. If districts for the election of District Court 

Judges were drawn smaller, then it would be possible to 

draw them so that they would represent predominantly 

Black areas. That is also true for Hispanic areas. 

There has been a history of racial segregation. In the 

60's and early 70's there was a more humanistic 

awareness in the United States regarding racial 

policies, which in recent times has changed. 

Blacks would have a more difficult time of winning a 

district court bench today than they would have then. 

In 1950 the was institutional racial discrimination. 

He graduated from college from what was then called 

Texas State University for Negroes. 

There was a time when Blacks could not use the 

Courthouse cafeteria in Harris County. 

Judges Plummer and Berry led the way to desegregate the 

cafeteria. There was racial segregation in the schools 

in 1950 which continued through the 60's. 

Residential segregation continues to this day. It is 

unusal for a community to stay really integrated. 

There are many areas which are predominantly Black. He 

had no opponent in the 1986 election. 

There are forty-seven district courts and eight family 

district courts in Harris County. There is one Black 

on the Family District Court Bench and two Blacks on 

the district courts giving preference to criminal law. 

There are no Blacks in the Civil Court Bench. 

He can recall no time when there were more than three 

Black judges sitting on the District Court Bench. He 

has no PAC's. 

EXAMINATION BY KEYS 
   



  

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EXAMINATIO 

$9 oo # 

All things have never been equal in any of his races. 

Experience dictates to him that judicial preference 

polls don't have influence on people's vote. Slating 

can have an influence on people's vote. Newspaper 

endorsements may or may not have an influence. How 

knowledgeable voters are can vary with the activity of 

the individual candidates. 

The names of the candidates can have an influence in 

people's vote. 

Felix Salazar lost his legislative post because of his 

name and Judge Azios is convinced he lost his first 

election because his name was listed on the ballot as 

Analfro Azios. Ruben Guerrero ran and effective 

campaign and lost mainly to the fact of his name. 

There are presently three Black district judges in 

Harris County. 

N BY TODD 
  

[END OF DE 

9GKMaa:klr 

He would say the name of candidate would be an 

incidental factor in the outcome of the race. 

POSITION] 

 



9. » National Office 

  

Suite 1600 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE 99 Hudson Street 

AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. New York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 219-1900 Fax: (212) 226-7592 

September 18, 1989 

Hon. John Neil 
Deputy Clerk, U.S. Courthouse 

P. O. Box 10708 
200 E. Wall, Room 316 

Midland, Texas 79702 

Re: Civil Action No. MO-88-CA-154 
LULAC, et al. v. James Mattox, et. al. 

Dear Mr. Neil: 

Enclosed for filing in the above referenced case, please find 
Plaintiff-intervenors Houston Lawyers' Association's revised 

exhibit list. 

All counsel have received copies of the depositions and have been 

served with summaries and relevant excerpts of the depositions. 

ne 
Sherril)yn A. Ifill 

Sincerely, 

  

SAT:dlw 

encl. 

Regional Offices 

Contributions are The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is not part Suite 301 Suite 800 
deductible for U.S. of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 1275 K Street, NW 634 S. Spring Street 
income tax purposes. (NAACP) although LDF was founded by the NAACP and shares its Washington, DC 20005 Los Angeles, CA 90014 

commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 30 years a separate (202) 682-1300 (213) 624-2405 
Board, program, staff, office and budget. Fax: (202) 682-1312 Fax: (213) 624-0075 

 



p=. » 

  

List and description of exhibits intended to be introduced at the 
trial. 

For plaintiff-intervenors Houston Lawyers' Assoc., et al.: 
  

No. Description 
  

i "Racial Differences in Candidate 
Preferences in Harris County 
District Judge Elections, General 
Elections, 1980-88 
by Richard L. Engstrom, Ph.D. 

la Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Engstrom 

2 "Illustrative Black Majority 
Single-Member District Within 
Harris County" 
by Mr. Jerry Wilson 

2a Summary of Illustrative Majority 
Black Districts by Population and 
Race 

2b Breakdown of Illustrative District 
Population based on Houston City 
Precinct estimates 

2C Curriculum Vitae of Jerry Wilson 

3 Map of Majority Black Precincts in 
Harris County, Texas 

4 Map of Majority Black areas 
according to 1980 Census Tracts 

5 Summary of Deposition of Thomas 
Routt 

6 Summary of Deposition of Sen. Craig 
Washington 

7 Transcript summary of meeting of 
Senate State Affairs Committee 
(1983) and (1985) and House 

Committee on Regions, Compacts and 

Districts (1983) leading to passage 
of Art..5, Section 7. 

8 Precinct Ethnic Data Estimates for 
Harris County, TX 1982-1988 
provided by Richard Murray, Ph.D. 

 



p p 

AZ // Houston City Total Population and , "0 long ev 
A of efile latio , provided vy offered . 

Houston City Planne office g JAH 

10 List of Black Judicial Candidates 
in Harris County 1980-88 

  

11 Tape of Senate hearing and 
documents of legislative history 
related to Art. 5, Section 7(a) (i) 

12 Summary of Deposition of Judge 
Manuel Leal 

13 Summary of Deposition of Bonnie 
Fitch 

14 Summary of Depostion of Alice 
Bonner 

15 Summary of Deposition of Francis 
Williams 

16 Summary of Deposition of Matthew 
Plummer 

17 Deposition on Written Questions of 
Harris County Registrar of Voters, 

Carl S. Smith