ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 8, 1997 TAG: 9703100034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE THE ROANOKE TIMES
State Attorney General Jim Gilmore says he wants more guidance from the Supreme Court before Virginia starts redrawing district lines.
Virginia will appeal the federal court decision declaring Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott's majority-black congressional district unconstitutional, Attorney General Jim Gilmore said Friday.
He asked federal judges in Richmond to delay their order forcing Virginia to create race-neutral districts before the next congressional election, in 1998.
Gilmore said he disagrees with the court's ruling that the 3rd Congressional District was illegally created to include a black majority.
But more important, Gilmore said, he wants guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court before Virginia sketches a new blueprint for its congressional representation.
"If we're going to draw fair, equitable lines that will survive future lawsuits, we need clear guidance," Gilmore said in a prepared statement. "We hope the Supreme Court will give us this guidance, whatever the outcome."
The 3rd District, which Scott has represented since its creation in 1992, stretches 225 miles from Portsmouth to Essex County, including black precincts in Norfolk, Petersburg and Richmond. Scott, a Democrat from Newport News, is the only black elected to Congress from Virginia this century.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that compact, geographically contiguous districts must get precedence over minority representation. Since the ruling, Virginia is the sixth state to have its congressional boundaries overturned.
The Supreme Court now is considering cases from Georgia and Florida, and Gilmore said he wants it to consider Virginia as well, so state officials will have a definitive opinion before changing anything.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also are defendants in the case and will join the state in the appeal. ``Virginia is to be congratulated for appealing this kind of regression in the Voting Rights Act,'' said Linda Byrd-Harden, executive director of the state NAACP.
The impact that new congressional districts would have on Virginia politics is uncertain. Some say the majority-black district is needed to ensure minority representation; others say it corrals black voters to ensure they elect only one member of Congress.
Scott has won the 3rd District by wide margins. Many expect that even with more whites in his district, he would fare well.
"I think redrawing the districts helps Democrats," said Norfolk Del. William Robinson, a Democrat who is black. "I think it's blacker than it needs to be."
Gilmore's move could keep Virginia from shuffling districts before the next congressional election. The Supreme Court could take until midsummer to rule, and that decision might require further review by lower courts.
Members of the General Assembly - which is responsible for creating congressional boundaries - have not agreed on a schedule for considering any changes. Without Gilmore's appeal, however, several said they expected a special session of the legislature to be called this summer.
There was another request in Gilmore's appeal: deferring the attorney's fees the court ordered Virginia to pay lawyers for Hampton Republican Donald Moon, whose lawsuit prompted the federal decision. Moon filed papers saying his attorneys and experts cost $827,285, an amount the attorney general called "unreasonable and excessive."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB