Plaintiff-Intervenor Houston Lawyers' Association Reply to Defendant-Intervenor Wood's Motion to Compel Discovery

    April 18, 1989 

Mr. John Neill, Clerk 
United States District Court . 

Western District of Texas 
200 East Wall 

Midland, Texas 

Re: LULAC v. Mattox 

No. 88-CA-154 
  

Dear Mr. Neill: 

Enclosed please find for filing an original and one (1) copy 
of plaintiff-intervenor Houston Lawyers' Association, et al.'s 
Reply to defendant-intervenor Wood's Motion to Compel Discovery 
in the above referenced action. 

Please return a file stamped copy of the same to my office 

at your earliest convenience. 

  

Assistant Counsel 

Enclosures: 2 

cc: All counsel of record 

88VADDbc:ct 

041889(1) 

  

NINETY NINE HUDSON STREET, 16th FLOOR o (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., 

PLAINTIFFS, 

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

PLAINTIFF-INTERVENORS, 

Ye. 

WILLIAM CLEMENTS, GOVERNOR OF 
STATE OF TEXAS: JIM MATTOX, 
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE 
OF TEXAS; JACK RAINS, SECRETARY 
OF STATE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
ALL IN THE OFFICIAL CAPACITIES; 
THOMAS R. PHILLIPS, JOHN F. 
ONION, JR.; RON CHAPMAN; THOMAS 
J. STOVALL, JR.; JAMES F. 
CLAWSON, JR., JOE E. KELLY; JOE 
B. EVINS; SAM B. PAXSON; 
WELDON KIRK; CHARLES J. 
SPURLOCK II, ALL IN THEIR 
OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS 
OF THE JUDICIAL DISTRICTS BOARD 
OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, 

CIVIL ACTION NO. THE 
88-CA-154 

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DEFENDANTS. 

PLAINTIFF-INTERVENOR HOUSTON LAWYERS 
ASSOCIATION et al.'s REPLY TO 

DEFENDANT-INTERVENOR WOOD'S MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY 
  

Pursuant to telephone conversations with counsel for 

defendant-intervenor Wood, plaintiff-intervenors Houston Lawyers’ 

Association et al. respond to defendant-intervenor Wood's Motion 

to Compel Discovery as follows:  



  

1. Plaintiff-intervenor Houston Lawyers' Association has 

sought to comply, to the extent possible, with all discovery 

requests in the case at hand. Defendant-intervenor Wood seeks to 

compel plaintiff-intervenors to produce documents relevant to 

this case. In summary, these documents include: election returns 

for primary and general contested district judge elections in 

Harris County, from 1980 through 1988; legislative history 

related to the 1985 passage of Art. 5, Section 7 of the Texas 

Constitution; and 1980 census reports containing socioeconomic 

data for Harris County, Texas. 

2 As plaintiff-intervenors have informed the movant, the 

documents requested are public records available for inspection 

and copying in government offices in both Austin and Houston, 

Texas. Specifically, plaintiff-intervenors have identified: the 

Harris County Clerk's Office located in Houston, Texas; the 

Secretary of State's Offices in Austin, Texas; the Legislative 

Reference Library in the State Capitol in Austin, Texas; and the 

Texas State Data Center, Department of Commerce in Austin, Texas. 

Counsel for defendant-intervenor Wood have not attempted, to 

plaintiff-intervenors' knowledge, to obtain these documents from 

the public offices listed in the Houston Lawyers' Association 

Answer to defendant-intervenor Wood's First Set of Production of 

Documents. 

 



  

3. Many of the materials requested are available at the 

Secretary of State's offices in Austin, Texas and are within the 

possession, custody or control of the defendants in this action. 

Plaintiff-intervenors have requested hat defendant-intervenors 

avail themselves of the resources of the defendants, who can more 

easily make this information available. than can 

plaintiff-intervenors. The State Defendants, in answer to 

plaintiff LULAC et al.'s Request for Production of Documents and 

Things, have directed plaintiffs to the Secretary of State's 

offices for review of election returns and other public records. 

Houston Lawyers' Association et al. have similarly directed 

defendant-intervenor Wood to the State's offices for review of 

public records. 

4. In recognition of the fact-intensive nature of this 

case, plaintiff-intervenors and plaintiffs in this action have 

sought to work together to avoid duplication of discovery, and to 

maximize the time available before discovery completion. 

Defendant-intervenors and Defendants should be similarly prudent, 

in the interests of both time and efficiency. 

5. Houston Lawyers' Association et al. will continue to 

comply with discovery requests pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 and 

Rule 34. The production of public records, sought by 

defendant-intervenors, however, will disproportionately burden 

 



  

plaintiff-intervenors, and will delay completion of discovery in 

this action. 

6. Counsel for Defendant-intervenor Wood agreed in a 

telephone conversation with counsel for plaintiff-intervenors, to 

contact defendants in this action in order to ascertain what 

documents and resources are available from the State defendants. 

WHEREFORE, plaintiff-intervenors Houston Lawyers’ 

Association respectfully request that this court deny 

defendant-intervenor Wood's motion to compel discovery, 

Respectfully submitted, 

A- gL 
Sori ila. Ifill 

    

  

NAACP Legal Defense & 
Educational Fund, Inc. 

99 Hudson Street, 16th Floor 
New York, New York 10013 
(212) 219-1900 

Of Counsel: GABRIELLE K. McDONALD 

Matthews & Branscomb 301 Congress Avenue 
A Professional Corporation Suite 2050 

Austin, Texas 78701 
(512) 320-5055 

Attorneys for: 
Plaintiff-Intervenors 

Houston Lawyers' Association, 
April 18, 1989 et al. 

88VADbc:ct 

 



  

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

MIDLAND-ODESSA DIVISION 

LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN 
CITIZENS (LULAC), et al., 

PLAINTIFFS, 

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

Bennie McGinty, 
PLAINTIFF-INTERVENORS, 

Legislative Black Caucus of 
Texas, 

PLAINTIFF-INTERVENORS, 

VS. 

THE STATE OF TEXAS: JIM MATTOX, 
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE 
OF TEXAS: JACK RAINS, SECRETARY 
OF STATE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, 
ALL IN THE OFFICIAL CAPACITIES; 
THOMAS R. PHILLIPS, JOHN F. 
ONION, JR.; RON CHAPMAN; THOMAS 
J. STOVALL, JR.; JAMES F. 
CLAWSON, JR.; JOE E. KELLY; JOE 
B. EVINS; SAM B. PAXSON; 
WELDON KIRK; CHARLES J. 
MURRAY; RAY D. ANDERSON; JOE 
SPURLOCK II, ALL IN THEIR 
OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS 
OF THE JUDICIAL DISTRICTS BOARD 
OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, 

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WILLIAM CLEMENTS, GOVERNOR OF S 

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S CIVIL ACTION NO. MO-88-CA-154 
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
  

I, Sherrilyn Ifill, hereby certify that on this 18th day of 

April, 1989, a true and correct copy of the Plaintiff-Intervenor 

Houston Lawyers' Association Et. Al.'s Reply to 

 



  

Defendant-Intervenor Wood's Motion to Compel Discovery was 

duly mailed, correctly addressed and postage prepaid, and placed 

in an official depository of the U. S. Mail to all counsel of 

record, to-wit: 

William L. Garrett 
Brena Hull Thompson 
8300 Douglas, #800 
Dallas, BX 75225 

Susan Finkelstein 
201 N St. Mary's $521 
San Antonio, TX 78205 

E. Bruce Cunningham 
777 8. R.L. Thornton Fwy $121 
Dallas, TX 75203 

Jim Mattox 
Mary F. Keller 
Renea Hicks 
Javier Guajardo 
Attorney General's Office 
P. O. Box 12548 
Austin, TX 78711 

Darrell Smith 
10999 Interstate Hwy 10, #905 
San Antonio, TX 78230 

Mark H. Dettman 
Midland County Attorney 
P. O. Box 2559 
Midland, TX 79702 

David R. Richards 

600 W 7th St. 

Austin, TX 78701 

4GKMds ; kd 

04-18-89 

Rolanda L. Rios 
201 N.-St. Mary's #521 
San Antonio, TX 78205 

Edward B. Cloutman, III 

3301 Elm 
Dallas, TX 75226-9222 

Julius Levonne Chambers 
Sherrilyn A. Ifill 
99 Hudson 8t., l6th Floor 

New York, N.Y. 10013 

J. Eugene Clements 
John E. O'Neill 
Evelyn V. Keys 
Porter & Clements 

700 Louisiana #3500 
Houston, TX 77002-2730 

Michael J. Wood 

440 Louisiana #200 
Houston, TX 77002 

Ken Oden 

Travis County Attorney 
P. O. Box 1748 

Austin, TX 78767 

Robert H. Mow, Jr. 
2800 Momentum Place 
1717 Main St. 
Dallas, TX 75201 

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JERERRILYN [IF ELL I