Federal court rejects bid by Florida counties to change election process to favor blacks

Jet, Dec 26, 1994

A federal appeals court recently dismissed an effort to increase the number of Black elected judges in the Jacksonville, FL area, ruling that proposed changes would disrupt justice.

A group of Black voters in Jacksonville sued in 1990, charging the atlarge election system diluted Black voting strength and prevented Blacks from winning judgeships. Four of the 40 circuit and county judges in a three-country judicial circuit centered in Jacksonville are Black but Blacks are 21 percent of the population in the circuit which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties.

To alleviate the problem, the Black voter group suggested electing judges from smaller districts within the circuit to increase the chances of Blacks getting elected to the bench.

However, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said recently it did find racial barriers preventing Black candidates from winning judicial elections but the proposed remedy would disrupt the justice system.

"By altering the current electoral schemes for the express purpose of electing more Black judges, the federal court would be proclaiming that race matters in the administration of justice," wrote Chief Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat. No evidence, he said, was presented of racial bias by judges in the circuit.

Attorneys for the city and state were delighted by the ruling, which reversed a decision by a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit and upheld a 1992 decision by a U.S. District Court judge.

The ruling could have a statewide impact since similar cases are pending in other parts of Florida as well as Alabama.

Attorneys for the Jacksonville group said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.