Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. v. Raffensperger

700 F.Supp.3d 1136

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. Brad RAFFENSPERGER, in his official capacity as Secretary of State of Georgia, Defendant.

Coakley Pendergrass et al., Plaintiffs, v. Brad Raffensperger et al., Defendants.

Annie Lois Grant et al., Plaintiffs, v. Brad Raffensperger et al., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:21-CV-05337-SCJ

CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:21-CV-05339-SCJ

CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:22-CV-00122-SCJ

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division

Signed October 26, 2023

[700 F.Supp.3d 1176]

Abigail Shaw, Pro Hac Vice, Alex W. Miller, Pro Hac Vice, Cassandra Mitchell, Pro Hac Vice, Debo P. Adegbile, Pro Hac Vice, Eliot Kim, Pro Hac Vice, Joseph D. Zabel, Pro Hac Vice, Juan M. Ruiz Toro, Pro Hac Vice, Maura Douglas, Pro Hac Vice, Robert Boone, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, New York, NY, Ari J. Savitzky, Pro Hac Vice, Casey Katharine Smith, Pro Hac Vice, Jennesa Calvo-Friedman, Pro Hac Vice, Kelsey A. Miller, Pro Hac Vice, Ming Cheung, Pro Hac Vice, Sophia Lin Lakin, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc., New York, NY, Anuj Dixit, Pro Hac Vice, Marisa A. DiGiuseppe, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP, Los Angeles,

[700 F.Supp.3d 1177]

CA, Anuradha Sivaram, Pro Hac Vice, De'Ericka Aiken, Pro Hac Vice, Edward Henderson Williams, II, Pro Hac Vice, Sonika Data, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, DC, Ayana Williams, Pro Hac Vice, Sughrue Mion Zinn MacPeak & Seas, Washington, DC, Charlotte Geaghan-Breiner, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr, LLP, Palo Alto, CA, Denise Tsai, Pro Hac Vice, George P. Varghese, Pro Hac Vice, Taeyoung Kim, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston, MA, Rahul Garabadu, Caitlin Felt May, Cory Isaacson, ACLU Foundation of Georgia, Inc., Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in No. 1:21-CV-05337.

Abigail Shaw, Pro Hac Vice, Alex W. Miller, Pro Hac Vice, Debo P. Adegbile, Pro Hac Vice, Eliot Kim, Pro Hac Vice, Joseph D. Zabel, Pro Hac Vice, Juan M. Ruiz Toro, Pro Hac Vice, Maura Douglas, Pro Hac Vice, Robert Boone, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, New York, NY, Ari J. Savitzky, Pro Hac Vice, Casey Katharine Smith, Pro Hac Vice, Jennesa Calvo-Friedman, Pro Hac Vice, Kelsey A. Miller, Pro Hac Vice, Ming Cheung, Pro Hac Vice, Sophia Lin Lakin, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc., New York, NY, Anuj Dixit, Pro Hac Vice, Marisa A. DiGiuseppe, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Anuradha Sivaram, Pro Hac Vice, De'Ericka Aiken, Pro Hac Vice, Edward Henderson Williams, II, Pro Hac Vice, Sonika Data, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, DC, Ayana Williams, Pro Hac Vice, Sughrue Mion Zinn MacPeak & Seas, Washington, DC, Charlotte Geaghan-Breiner, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr, LLP, Palo Alto, CA, Denise Tsai, Pro Hac Vice, George P. Varghese, Pro Hac Vice, Taeyoung Kim, Pro Hac Vice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston, MA, Rahul Garabadu, Caitlin Felt May, Cory Isaacson, ACLU Foundation of Georgia, Inc., Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Eric T. Woods, Katie Bailey Glenn, Phil Brown, Janice Stewart in No. 1:21-CV-05337.

Bryan Francis Jacoutot, Bryan P. Tyson, Daniel H. Weigel, Diane Festin LaRoss, Donald P. Boyle, Jr., Frank B. Strickland, Taylor English Duma LLP, Atlanta, GA, Charlene S. McGowan, Office of the Georgia Attorney General, Atlanta, GA, Elizabeth Marie Wilson Vaughan, Department of Law - Division 5, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant in No. 1:21-CV-05337.

Daniel J. Hessel, Pro Hac Vice, Ruth M. Greenwood, Pro Hac Vice, Theresa J. Lee, Pro Hac Vice, Election Law Clinic, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, Albert Matthews Pearson, III, Albert M. Pearson LLC, Atlanta, GA, for Amici Fair Districts GA, Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School in No. 1:21-CV-05337.

Abha Khanna, Pro Hac Vice, Jonathan Patrick Hawley, Pro Hac Vice, Makeba Rutahindurwa, Pro Hac Vice, Elias Law Group LLP, Seattle, WA, Kevin J. Hamilton, Pro Hac Vice, Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, Adam Martin Sparks, Joyce Gist Lewis, Krevolin & Horst, LLC, Atlanta, GA, Christina Ashley Ford, Pro Hac Vice, Daniel C. Osher, Pro Hac Vice, Michael Brandon Jones, Graham W. White, Pro Hac Vice, Elias Law Group LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs in No. 1:21-CV-05339.

Bryan Francis Jacoutot, Bryan P. Tyson, Diane Festin LaRoss, Donald P. Boyle, Jr., Frank B. Strickland, Taylor English Duma LLP, Atlanta, GA, Charlene S. McGowan, Office of the Georgia Attorney General, Atlanta, GA, Elizabeth Marie Wilson Vaughan, Department of Law - Division 5, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants Brad Raffensperger in Nos. 1:22-CV-00122,

[700 F.Supp.3d 1178]

1:21-CV-05339, Sara Tindall Ghazal in Nos. 1:22-CV-00122, 1:21-CV-05339, Matthew Mashburn in Nos. 1:22-CV-00122, 1:21-CV-05339, Edward Lindsey in No. 1:22-CV-00122.

Bryan P. Tyson, Diane Festin LaRoss, Donald P. Boyle, Jr., Taylor English Duma LLP, Atlanta, GA, Elizabeth Marie Wilson Vaughan, Department of Law - Division 5, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants Edward Lindsey in No. 1:21-CV-05339, Hon. William S. Duffey, Jr. in Nos. 1:22-CV-00122, 1:21-CV-05339, Janice W. Johnston in Nos. 1:22-CV-00122, 1:21-CV-05339.

Abha Khanna, Pro Hac Vice, Jonathan Patrick Hawley, Pro Hac Vice, Makeba Rutahindurwa, Pro Hac Vice, Elias Law Group LLP, Seattle, WA, Kevin J. Hamilton, Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, Adam Martin Sparks, Joyce Gist Lewis, Krevolin & Horst, LLC, Atlanta, GA, Christina Ashley Ford, Pro Hac Vice, Daniel C. Osher, Pro Hac Vice, Michael Brandon Jones, Graham W. White, Pro Hac Vice, Elias Law Group LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs Annie Lois Grant, Quentin T. Howell, Elroy Tolbert, Triana Arnold James, Eunice Sykes, Elbert Solomon, Dexter Wimbish in No. 1:22-CV-00122.

Makeba Rutahindurwa, Pro Hac Vice, Elias Law Group LLP, Seattle, WA, Kevin J. Hamilton, Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, Adam Martin Sparks, Joyce Gist Lewis, Krevolin & Horst, LLC, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs Garrett Reynolds, Jacqueline Faye Arbuthnot, Jacquelyn Bush, Mary Nell Conner in No. 1:22-CV-00122.

OPINION AND MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

STEVE C. JONES, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OPINION AND MEMORANDUM OF DECISION . . . 1180

I. FINDINGS OF FACT . . . 1181

A. PROCEDURAL HISTORY . . . 1184

1. Initial Filings . . . 1184

2. Preliminary Injunction . . . 1184

3. Discovery and Summary Judgment . . . 1185

4. Trial . . . 1186

5. Post-Trial Proceedings . . . 1186

B. THE NAMED PARTIES . . . 1186

1. Alpha Phi Alpha Plaintiffs . . . 1186

a) Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc . . . . 1186

b) Sixth District African Methodist Episcopal Church . . . 1187

c) Individually-named Plaintiffs in the APA case . . . 1187

2. Pendergrass Plaintiffs . . . 1187

3. Grant Plaintiffs . . . 1188

4. Defendants . . . 1188

a) Brad Raffensperger . . . 1188

b) The State Election Board . . . 1188

C. HISTORY OF RACE AND VOTING IN GEORGIA . . . 1189

D. GEORGIA'S CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS . . . 1190

1. Georgia's Total Population . . . 1190

2. Metro Atlanta . . . 1191

3. The Black Belt . . . 1192

a) Eastern Black Belt Region . . . 1192

b) Metro-Macon Region . . . 1193

c) Southwestern Georgia Region . . . 1193

E. GEORGIA 2021 ENACTED PLANS . . . 1193

1. The 2021 Redistricting Process . . . 1193

a) Legislative activities . . . 1193

b) Map drawing process . . . 1195

2. Enacted Plan Statistics . . . 1196

a) Congressional Plan . . . 1196

(1) 20.12 Congressional plan . . . 1196

[700 F.Supp.3d 1179]

(2) Enacted Congressional Plan . . . 1197

b) State Senate Plan . . . 1199

c) State House Plan . . . 1202

F. ILLUSTRATIVE PLANS . . . 1204

1. Credibility Determinations . . . 1204

a) Mr. William S. Cooper . . . 1204

b) Mr. Blakeman B. Esselstyn . . . 1206

c) Mr. John B. Morgan . . . 1206

d) Dr. Maxwell Palmer . . . 1208

e) Dr. Lisa Handley . . . 1208

f) Dr. John Alford . . . 1209

2. Illustrative Congressional Plan . . . 1210

a) First Gingles Precondition . . . 1210

(1) Mr. Cooper's process in drawing the maps . . . 1210

(2) Illustrative Congressional Plan . . . 1211

b) Second and Third Gingles Preconditions . . . 1217

3. Cooper Legislative Plans . . . 1218

a) Mr. Cooper's process in drawing the maps . . . 1218

b) Cooper Senate Plan . . . 1219

(1) Empirical measures . . . 1220

(2) Core retention . . . 1223

(3) Incumbent pairing . . . 1223

(4) Racial considerations . . . 1223

c) Cooper House Plan . . . 1224

(1) Empirical measures . . . 1224

(2) Core retention . . . 1226

(3) Incumbent pairings . . . 1226

(4) Racial considerations . . . 1227

4. Esselstyn Legislative Plans . . . 1227

a) Mr. Esselstyn's map drawing process . . . 1227

b) Esselstyn Senate Plan . . . 1227

(1) Empirical measures . . . 1228

(2) Core retention . . . 1233

(3) Incumbent Pairings . . . 1233

(4) Racial Considerations . . . 1233

c) Esselstyn House Plan . . . 1235

(1) Empirical measures . . . 1235

(2) Core retention . . . 1239

(3) Incumbent Pairings . . . 1239

(4) Racial Considerations . . . 1240

G. SECOND AND THIRD GINGLES PRECONDITIONS . . . 1240

1. Pendergrass: Dr. Palmer's methodology . . . 1240

2. Alpha Phi Alpha: Dr. Handley's methodology . . . 1242

3. Grant: Dr. Palmer's methodology . . . 1244

H. GEORGIA'S HISTORY OF VOTING AND RECENT ELECTORAL DEVELOPMENTS . . . 1245

1. Credibility Determinations . . . 1245

a) Dr. Orville Vernon Burton . . . 1246

b) Dr. Loren Collingwood . . . 1246

c) Dr. Adrienne Jones . . . 1247

d) Dr. Traci Burch . . . 1247

e) Dr. Jason Morgan Ward . . . 1248

2. Analysis . . . . 1248

II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW . . . 1248

A. JURISDICTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS . . . 1248

1. Constitutional Standing . . . 1248

a) Claims by the Sixth District AME . . . 1249

b) Claims against the SEB . . . 1250

2. Statutory Standing . . . 1250

B. LEGAL STANDARDS . . . 1251

1. First Gingles Precondition . . . 1251

2. Second and Third Gingles Precondition . . . 1251

3. Totality of the Circumstances: Senate

...