NAACP Legal Defense Fund Comments on Key Voting Rights Cases Argued Before Supreme Court Today

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From: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund 

Contact: Sherrilyn Iffil, NAACP Legal Defense Fund 
(202) 682-1300 

Dan Fleshler, NAACP Legal Defense Fund 
(212) 219-1900 

Steve Alschuler, Howard J. Rubenstein Associates, 
Public Relations (212) 489-6900 

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, APRIL 22 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND COMMENTS ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS 
CASES ARGUED BEFORE SUPREME COURT TODAY 

New York, NY, April 22...A statement from Julius L. 

Chambers, Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 

Fund, on the voting rights cases considered by the Supreme Court 

  

today (Houston Lawyers Association v. Attorney General of Texas, 

Chisom v. Roemer): 
  

"The voting rights cases before the Court today address an 

issue of critical importance to African Americans and Hispanics: 

whether minority voters will be given a fair chance to 

participate in the election of judges. 

At a time when violent crime is devastating minority 

communities, when one out of every four African American males is 

in jail or under some form of court supervision, it is imperative 

that minorities have faith in our criminal justice system. Yet 

far too many African Americans and Hispanics have no faith in 

that system because they have no say in who administers it and 

how it is administered. One reason is that white voters all too 

often refuse to vote for black or Hispanic judicial candidates, 

and electoral systems are structured so that minority votes 

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simply don't count. 

For example, in Harris County (Houston), Texas, the African 

American population totals nearly 20%. Yet the at-large method of 

electing judges in that County prevents minorities from having a 

fair chance to elect their candidates of choice. In 16 of 17 

elections, African American candidates who ran for district judge 

from 1980-88 received at least 95% of the votes cast by African 

Americans. In contrast, these same candidates rarely received 

more than 30% of the votes cast by whites. Because white voters 

simply refused to cast their ballots for African American 

candidates, only 2 of the county's 59 elected district judges 

were African American between 1980 and 1988. The same pattern of 

racially-polarized voting exists in many parts of this country. 

The existence of racial discrimination in the selection of 

the state judiciary damages both the fact and appearance of 

fairness, and casts doubt on the integrity and legitimacy of the 

judicial process." 

Regional Offices 

Contributions are The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is not part Suite 301 Suite 208 
deductible for U.S. of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 1275 K Street, NW 315 West Ninth Stree 
income tax purposes. (NAACP) although LDF was founded by the NAACP and shares its Washington DC 20005 Los usdng, nts 

commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 30 years a separate (202) 682-1300 (213) A245 I 
Board, program, staff, office and budget. Fax: (202) 682-1312 Fas (213) 624-0075