Correspondence from Chambers to Williams
Correspondence
March 5, 1981

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Case Files, Thornburg v. Gingles Working Files - Guinier. Correspondence from Chambers to Williams, 1981. 1bc5aee7-de92-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/cc39233f-b5f4-4125-b52e-22cbc0c663f5/correspondence-from-chambers-to-williams. Accessed April 19, 2025.
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JULIUS LEVONNE CHAMBERS JAMES E FERGUSON. II MELVIN L WATT JONATHAN WALLAS KARL ADKINS JAMES C FULLER. JR. C YVONNE MIMS JOHN W GRESHAM RONALD L. GIBSON CHAMBERS. FERGUSON. WATT. WALLAS. ADKINS 8: FULLER. RA. ATTORNEYS AT LAW SUITE 730 EAST INDEPENDENCE PLAZA 951 SOUTH INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD CHARLOTTE. NORTH CAROLINA 28202 TELEPHONE (704) 375-8461 March 5, 1981 Mr. Napoleon B. Williams, Jr. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 10 Columbus Circle — Suite 2030 New York, New York 10019 Re: North Carolina Reapportionment Dear Napoleon: Thank you for your letter of February 20, 1981. You indicate in your letter that the Fund may be able to assist us in our re- apportionment efforts ”if it turns out that we have the basis for a substantial claim.” I trust that you appreciate that all our claims are Hsubstantial." During theTESt three or four months, I have been meeting with Steve Suitts of the Southern Regional Council, Dr. Raymond Wheeler, also of the Council, and Richard Klein and Leslie Winner of Legal Services of North Carolina, exploring the possibility of some liti- gation which would encourage affirmative drawings of representative districts in order to improve the opportunity of minorities for election to the State House or Senate or"to Congress. We have been focusing on the congressional districts and the House and Senate districts of North Carolina. With respect to the congressional districts, we get no new repre- sentatives with the 1980 Census. A bill has been submitted to the Legislature (see Item 1 attached hereto) which basically re-establishes the same districts. There is a move afoot, however, to redraw the congressional districts, particularly for Mecklenburg County, the Ninth District, Guilford County, the Sixth District and Durham County, the Fourth District. The changes being proposed, particularly for the Fourth District, will improve minority opportunities. Mr. Napoleon B. Williams, Jr. March 5, 1981 Page Two Reapportionment of the House and Senate districts poses a problem because of Article l, 51 and Article 2, §5 of the North Carolina Constitution. The Constitution prohibits dividing a county for the purpose of establishing a House or Senate district (see Items 2A and 2B, memoranda of Leslie Winner, attached hereto). Steve Suitts' memorandum of September 2, 1980 (Item 3) shows that minority election possibilities can be improved if separate districts could be established within counties or by combining two or more counties. The present population and racial composition of the House and Senate districts are shown on Items A and 5. Since several North Carolina counties are now subject to §5 of the Voting Rights Act, see Items 6 and 7, we have been trying to determine if we could use §5 or §2 in trying to impose an affirmative obligation on the State in redrawing the districts. We have also looked briefly at some other possibilities (see Item 8 dealing with the Revenue Sharing Act). I am also enclosing some miscellaneous news articles and material. It now appears that the Legislature will have to come back in a special session. We are interested in instituting a proceeding as soon as possible challenging the State constitutional provisions which prohibit setting up separate districts within counties or from establishing a district across county lines and in trying to establish an affirmative obligation on the State in re-districting to establish districts which improve minority opportunities for participating in or in being elected to State House and Senate districts and to Congress. Our next meeting has been scheduled for March 9 at 12:30 at this office. If possible, we would very much like for you to attend. Sincerely yours, e nne Chambers JLC:md Enclosures cc: Steve Suitts Raymond Wheeler Richard Klein, Leslie Winner