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Judge halts school board elections in Ferguson-Florissant, saying they're stacked against black vote

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by CometsWin, Aug 22, 2016.

  1. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    Apparently white lives matter a whole hell of a lot in Ferguson. We can add this case to the DOJ report confirming it.

    Judge halts school board elections in Ferguson-Florissant, saying they're stacked against black voters

    A federal judge has barred the Ferguson-Florissant school district from conducting school board elections, ruling that the current political process is stacked against African-American voters.

    U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel said that while he does not see evidence of intentional discrimination, there is a more subtle "complex interaction" of political processes that deter black voters from electing the candidates of their choice.

    "Rather, it is my finding that the cumulative effects of historical discrimination, current political practices, and the socioeconomic conditions present in the District impact the ability of African-Americans in (the school system) to participate equally in Board elections," the judge concluded in a 119-page ruling issued Monday.

    The ruling states that the election system is in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

    "As a result, the Court enjoins Defendants from conducting any elections for the District’s Board until a new system may be properly implemented," the judge ruled.

    The ruling calls for a status conference on Friday to discuss a "remedies briefing schedule" to further address the matter.

    Cindy Ormsby, a lawyer representing the district, said she is shocked and confused by the ruling.

    "The district is very disappointed in the court's decision," Ormsby said Monday, adding later, "the board was confident. We believed we put on an excellent case."

    Ormsby said the ruling only applies to the Ferguson-Florissant district. Missouri law would have to change in order to alter how other school districts vote.

    The suit, brought by the ACLU for the Missouri NAACP and three residents, has sought to force an end to at-large School Board elections. It claims the result has been under-representation by blacks on the board of a district where nearly 80 percent of the students are African-American. The plaintiffs say that since the 2000 election, the top choice of white voters was white, and won every time. The top choice of black voters was black, and usually lost.

    And they say that current board members are unaware of the district’s segregated history and ongoing racial disparities.

    ACLU Missouri Legal Director Tony Rothert said Monday the organization is pleased with the ruling.

    He said the case highlights there are still state voting methods, including at-large and alternative voting systems, that can cause African American voters to have an unequal voice.

    "The legislature might want to look at if it's wise to keep mechanisms in place that tend to dilute the votes of African Americans," he said.

    ACLU lawyers have discussed the formation of election districts or a combination of at-large and district seats as a solution.
     
  2. Nook

    Nook Member

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    This is interesting.
     
  3. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    Probably want to see the actual participation rates for black voters in school district elections, as that could be astronomically low; but the population and board demographic disparity is certainly anomalous. Maybe some eligibility, time or fundraising requirements that make it hard for black candidates to campaign, also consider not every black voter will necessarily vote for the black candidate.

    Honestly I sympathize with every actor in this scenario including the current board members, they and residential zoning commissions are probably the worst elected offices to have.
     
  4. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    Hard to find good info but...

    In 12 elections that took place between 2000 and 2015, five black candidates won school board seats out of 24 potential candidates, the judge noted in his opinion. Over that period, 22 white candidates won seats out of 37 potential contenders.

    At the time the lawsuit was filed, the board had just one black member.

    Although the district is split about evenly between black and white residents, a higher percentage of whites are registered to vote. Many white parents in the district send their children to private or parochial schools, leaving black students to make up nearly four-fifths of Ferguson-Florissant's 12,000 students.
     
  5. Major

    Major Member

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    Don't really know much about this case in particular, but in general, at-large elections suck and aren't really representative. We saw that in Austin with the City Council. Since the city is liberal, every seat was won by a liberal since everyone voted for all the seats. Now that they have separate seats for each area, you get much more diversity of thought on the council.
     
  6. Duncan McDonuts

    Duncan McDonuts Contributing Member

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    No evidence, huh?
     
  7. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    The citizens are planning on burning the town to the ground again in order to protest this.
     
  8. edwardc

    edwardc Member

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    Petty so petty but true to your form.
     
  9. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    The implication by the judge seems to be that these black people should be expected to vote for candidates based on their skin color. That is just flat out racism.

    Also, while the article does not say so, it sounds like the judge is an advocate of quotas. That is also racist.
     
  10. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    Judge says voting rules violate Voting Rights Act... MojoMan says that waisis. heh
     
  11. Commodore

    Commodore Contributing Member

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    so basically, the judge has zero evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone, and decides to interfere with a democratic outcome

    this is what makes judges so dangerous; they have so much concentrated power that runs counter to checks and balances and separation of powers
     
  12. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    The wrongdoing is having at large elections that dilute votes of minorities. Read his ruling. Read the Voting Rights Act.
     
  13. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    If a black candidate doesn't win when black people are the majority population in an area, it's racism. Only possible answer. Burn the town down if a non-black candidate wins, it's the right thing to do.
     
  14. Commodore

    Commodore Contributing Member

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    a minority's vote is worth the same as anyone else's, at large election or otherwise
     
  15. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    Read the ruling. Read the Voting Rights Act. Conservatives are champions of drawing up voting districts to dilute minority votes in a such a way that they can can never put a minority candidate in office.
     
  16. xcrunner51

    xcrunner51 Contributing Member

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    Honestly, if people in 2016 are aware that heavily-gerrymandered districts have played a big part in current politics they've failed civics.
     
  17. NewRoxFan

    NewRoxFan Contributing Member

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    "serious evidence of any wrong-doing"... hmm, curious, what's your opinion on the voter ID issue?
     

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