THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702080356
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE AND MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 121 lines
The state's only black-majority congressional district - which includes sections of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk - was ruled unconstitutional Friday by a panel of federal judges.
The three federal judges ordered the General Assembly to redraw the meandering, 225-mile 3rd District, currently represented by Democrat Robert C. Scott, without segregating races.
About 62 percent of the district's voting-age residents are black. The judges ruled that the district's shape and its division of 11 localities by race from Hampton Roads to Essex County constituted ``illegal gerrymandering'' to create the black majority.
The decision makes Virginia the sixth state to have congressional districts overturned since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that federal laws do not require minority-dominated districts to be created whenever possible. Instead, courts have ruled that drawing geographically ``compact and contiguous'' districts is more important.
State Attorney General James S. Gilmore III said he was ``disappointed'' with the decision but will not decide whether to appeal until he has consulted with the NAACP.
A state spokesman for the civil rights group, King Khalfani, said he was hopeful Gilmore would advance the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
``We're not surprised but disappointed because we feel that this is part of a nationwide trend,'' Khalfani said. ``It reminds us of the period after Reconstruction, how we were systematically taken out of the process.''
But Scott, who has represented the district since its inception in 1992, disagreed. At a news conference Friday, Scott, the only black Virginian elected to Congress this century, said he hoped state political leaders could work out ``minor revisions'' to satisfy the judges without seeking an appeal.
``I think all sides have an interest in not reopening the redistricting to major changes,'' Scott said. ``If you're going to do major changes to the 3rd Congressional District, you're also going have to have major changes to at least one other, and probably four other districts.''
The judges ordered the General Assembly to redraw the district before the next congressional election, in 1998. Barring an appeal, Gov. George F. Allen could either convene a special meeting of the legislature or wait until next year's winter session to comply.
``It's just too early to determine,'' said Ken Stroupe, the governor's press secretary.
Should the courts require a substantial overhaul, however, the Assembly would have no choice but to redraw congressional districts in Hampton Roads that are now represented by Democrats Owen B. Picket and Norman Sisisky and Republican Herbert H. Bateman. The domino effect could spread to Republican Thomas J. Bliley's suburban Richmond district.
Whatever the outcome, Scott said he planned to seek re-election in 1998, and even the judges said their ruling should not upset the congressman's career. Scott, a Harvard-educated lawyer, has broad biracial appeal and was elected three times to the state Senate from a white-majority district.
The suit was filed by two 3rd District Republicans - Donald M. Moon, a white retired Navy man, and Robert A. Smith, a black customer service representative and unsuccessful candidate for local office.
They argued that the state illegally divided races in drawing the district. ``I've seen segregation in a lot of different guises, and no matter what label they put on it, it's wrong,'' Moon said.
``In a word, I'm pleased,'' Smith said. ``But I'm also just a little bit saddened that it had to go to this extent. . . My hope now is that the General Assembly would do the right thing and draw constitutionally acceptable congressional districts.''
The three-judge panel unanimously agreed that the district violated Moon and Smith's right to equal protection of the law ``because it relies upon the classification of large numbers of Virginians by race so as to include or exclude them.''
The ruling was written by Judge Robert R. Merhige of Richmond and signed by Judges T.S. Ellis of Alexandria and H. Emory Widener of Abingdon.
The state, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that race was not the predominant factor in the General Assembly's creation of the district. At least as important, they maintained, was protecting several incumbents by giving them safer districts.
Several Republican congressmen, for instance, were placed in districts with stronger white, suburban and conservative bases.
The judges rejected that argument, ruling that legislators and then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder consistently took steps to increase the percentage of blacks in the 3rd District while it was being created.
The judges noted that then-state Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, in submitting the plan to the U.S. Justice Department for approval, wrote: ``Extensive redrawing of district lines was necessitated. . . to meet ideal population standards, establish a majority-black district and create a new open district in the Northern Virginia area of highest population growth.''
The judges said lawmakers made their intent clear by establishing written guidelines that prohibited any ``change which will reduce the black percentage'' of the 3rd District.
They ruled that the district's ``bizarre shape'' - it meanders from Portsmouth northeast to Essex County with tentacles stretching into black sections of Richmond and Petersburg - ``confirms manifest racial intention.''
Finally, the judges said the district illegally shattered the political cohesion of many cities and counties. The racial populations of 11 localities were divided to create the district, they said.
``The legislature relied upon the classification of voters based upon race at the census block level to divide precincts and apportion large numbers of voters based on race into, and out of, the 3rd District,'' Merhige wrote. ``The division of cities on an unprecedented scale cannot be explained on any grounds other than race.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Robert C. Scott
Map
Area Shown:
3rd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
WHAT HAPPENED?
A panel of federal judges ruled that Virginia's 3rd Congressional
District was illegally formed to create a black majority. About 62
percent of the district's voting-age residents are black.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The meandering 225-mile district, currently represented by
Democrat Robert C. Scott, left, will have to be redrawn without
segregating races before the next congressional election in 1998.
Scott is the only black Virginian elected to Congress this century.
KEYWORDS: 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT REDISTRICTING RULING
FEDERAL COURT