Posted on 08/22/2014 5:04:05 PM PDT by mdittmar
YAKIMA, Wash. — A federal judge has ruled in favor of the ACLU in its voting rights lawsuit against the city of Yakima through a summary judgment, bringing an abrupt end to two years of litigation and likely resulting in a potentially dramatic change to Yakima city politics.
In a ruling Friday afternoon, the judge said the American Civil Liberties Union met the preconditions necessary to vacate the trial and move directly to the remediation phase, where both the ACLU and the city will present proposals for changing the way City Council members are elected. The ACLU has already proposed all-district voting for the seven council members.
The ruling determines that Yakima’s current election system violates Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the Latino community vote.
“In the final analysis, there is only one rational conclusion to be drawn” from the evidence provided by the ACLU, federal Judge Thomas O. Rice wrote in a 67-page opinion. “That the non-Latino majority in Yakima routinely suffocates the voting preferences of the Latino minority.”
Yakima currently elects council members under a hybrid system of at-large and district voting, a system which has been in place since 1976. Opponents said the system has allowed a pattern of racially polarized voting to prevent Latinos from being effectively represented on the council.
Rice also granted an injunction against any future City Council elections under the current system. The next City Council elections aren’t scheduled to take place until next year.
Rice scheduled Oct. 3 for the first hearing in the remedy phase of the case, where both sides will submit remedial redistricting plans.
Yakima City Manager Tony O’Rourke said it will be up to City Council members to decide whether the city should appeal the ruling.
“It’s their prerogative,” O’Rourke said. “They’ll sit down with our attorneys and determine the next course of action.”
The city had already spent more than $743,000 defending the case. It’s likely the ACLU will also seek the cost of legal fees from the city, which could total millions of dollars and is not covered under its insurance pool in this case.
Latinos make up more than 41 percent of Yakima’s population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, but not one has ever been elected to the Yakima City Council. Latinos make up about a third of the city’s voting age population.
A demographer and expert witness for the ACLU previously gave the court seven examples for how Yakima might elect council members under geographic districts. Those examples include Latino majority districts which the city had tried to argue would marginalize Latinos in other parts of the city and would be unconstitutional.
And what happens if these Latino-mandered districts don’t manage to elect a Latino anyhow? Does the ACLU then owe Yakima restitution?
I have always voted for the person I thought would do the best job,I’m free now!,Yippie,won’t have to vote anymore,a Federal Judge has decided for me.
Hmm, I’m moving to Yakima next month, still a great place to live. You just have to know what side of town to live.
It is a good town,but I will be moving.
This is a serious appeal to attorneys and academics with expertise on Constitutional matters and federal laws.
When did the clear delineation between the obligations and powers of federalism and the States shift in that ugly direction?
Seems as if now the Federal government is attempting to preempt States' authorities' power about anything.
So why do we need State Governments?
That's what the people of Ferguson thought...
How did that work out?
What's the "Latino" race?
White men from Spain?
I’m moving to Yakima to be closer to my adult son. My in-laws here were apple farmers for years until the alar scare drove them out of business. FU 60 minutes!
My town Watsonville, California went through this some years ago. No more at large city council election and divided the voting area into 7 districts. In the two outlying districts, Caucasian acres, usually a couple of candidates will run against each other and some 7,000 votes will be cast. In the downtown districts, the Barrio, usually a candidate will run unopposed and maybe 200 votes will be cast. Town has turned into a banana republic.
I never understood the value of having a city councle that was elected at large. Why not just elect one man then, if your not going to bother with representing regions?
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