Bowman v. Chambers

586 F.Supp.3d 926

John BOWMAN, et al., Plaintiffs,

Becky Arps, et al., Consolidated Plaintiffs,

v.Robert L. CHAMBERS, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 4:21-CV-1406 NAB

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division.

Signed February 22, 2022

Gerald P. Greiman, Thomas W. Hayde, Jr., Spencer Fane LLP, St. Louis, MO, for Plaintiffs John Bowman, Karen Cloyd, Glenn Koenen, Susan Meredith, Tommie Pierson, Jr., Dana Sandweiss, Brian Wingbermuehle.

Jack B. Spooner, Spooner Law LLC, St. Louis, MO, for Consolidated Plaintiffs Becky Arps, Rene Artman, Adam Bohn, Tim Fitch, Mark Harder, Lisa Kaliski, Kelly Stavros, Ernie Trakas, Richard Wolfe, Amy Poelker, June Schmidt, Edward Engler.

Jack B. Spooner, Spooner Law LLC, Jane E. Dueker, St. Louis, MO, for Consolidated Plaintiff Rita Heard Days.

Edward J. Sluys, Steven W. Garrett, Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O'Keefe, St. Louis, MO, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NANNETTE A. BAKER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

This matter is pending before the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Plaintiffs and Consolidated Plaintiffs bring suit against Defendant members of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County, Missouri seeking judicial reapportionment of the St. Louis County Council Districts following the failure of the St. Louis County Council Reapportionment Commission to file a reapportionment plan.

I. BACKGROUND

Each set of plaintiffs in this case filed separate lawsuits on November 30, 2021, less than two days after the Reapportionment Commission's deadline to adopt and file a reapportionment plan.

Plaintiffs John Bowman, Karen Cloyd, Glenn Koenen, Susan Meredith, Tommie Pierson, Jr., Dana Sandweiss, and Brian Wingbermuehle (collectively "the Bowman Plaintiffs") are registered voters in St. Louis County, one from each of the seven County Council Districts. The Bowman Plaintiffs were the seven Democratic members of the 2021 St. Louis County Council Bipartisan Reapportionment Commission ("Reapportionment Commission").

Consolidated Plaintiffs¹ Becky Arps, Rene Artman, Adam Bohn, Rita Heard

Days, Edward Engler, Tim Fitch, Mark Harder, Lisa Kaliski, Amy Poelker, June Schmidt, Kelly Stavros, Ernie Trakas, and Richard Wolfe (collectively "the Arps Plaintiffs") are thirteen registered voters of St. Louis County, including three Republican members of the Reapportionment Commission (Plaintiffs Arps, Bohn, and Poelker). The Arps Plaintiffs also include four incumbent members of the St. Louis County Council: Plaintiff Days represents District One; Plaintiff Fitch represents District Three; Plaintiff Trakas represents District Six; and Plaintiff Harder represents District Seven. Plaintiff Days is the current Chair of the St. Louis County Council and a Democrat. Plaintiffs Fitch, Trakas, and Harder are Republicans. The terms of Plaintiffs Days, Fitch, and Harder will expire in January of 2023, and they plan to run for reelection in the 2022 election.

Defendants Robert Chambers, Patricia Yaeger, Marsha E. Haeffner, and Florence Hill are the members of the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County. Plaintiffs brought this action against Defendants in their official capacity as members of the Board and as the officials in charge of elections in St. Louis County. While Defendants will have the duty of implementing the district lines as determined by the Court, Defendants have no authority to draw the lines themselves.

The Bowman Plaintiffs and the Arps Plaintiffs seek, inter alia, to have the Court (1) declare that the current Council District boundaries are in violation of the requirements of the United States Constitution and the Missouri Constitution; and (2) reapportion the Council Districts such that St. Louis County is divided into seven districts that are composed of contiguous territory as compact and nearly equal in population as possible. The parties requested an expedited schedule, a bench trial, and for the Court to issue a decision before the first day for filing a Declaration of Candidacy for the 2022 election to the St. Louis County Council. Pursuant to applicable law, the time period for filing a Declaration of Candidacy begins on February 22, 2022 and ends on March 29, 2022. Potential County Council candidates intending to run for office will need to know the district boundaries prior to filing their Declarations of Candidacy.

On the motion of the Arps Plaintiffs, these cases were consolidated on December 14, 2021. On the motion of the Bowman Plaintiffs, the John Doe Defendants named in the Arps Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint were severed and the conspiracy claim against them was dismissed without prejudice on January 25, 2022. The undersigned held a bench trial on February 1, 2022. The Bowman Plaintiffs presented two witnesses. First, their retained expert Dr. David Kimball testified regarding the existing County Council District Map and the plans proposed by the Bowman Plaintiffs and the Arps Plaintiffs. Second, Plaintiff Brian Wingbermuehle testified very briefly. Counsel for the Arps Plaintiffs cross-examined both witnesses, and counsel for Plaintiff Rita Heard Days separately cross-examined Dr. Kimball. The parties also submitted a Joint Stipulation of Uncontested Facts. The Bowman Plaintiffs and the Arps Plaintiffs jointly submitted the testimony of eight of the plaintiffs by way of deposition designations.² Defendants have consistently remained neutral regarding the Bowman Plaintiffs and Arps Plaintiffs’ respective proposed district plans, and presented no evidence at trial.

II. FACTS ELICITED AT TRIALSt. Louis County Council & The County Charter

The St. Louis County Charter sets forth the procedure by which St. Louis County Council Districts are reapportioned following a decennial census. Pursuant to § 2.020 of the County Charter, St. Louis County is divided into seven County Council Districts. Pursuant to § 2.035 of the County Charter, on or about May 28, 2021, County Executive Dr. Sam Page appointed fourteen persons, seven Democrats and seven Republicans, to the St. Louis County Bipartisan Reapportionment Commission. Section 2.035 of the County Charter states:

The commission shall reapportion the council districts by dividing the population of the county by the number of council districts established by this charter so that the population of each district shall, as near as possible, equal that figure and so that each district shall be composed of contiguous territory as compact as may be. Not later than six months after the population of St. Louis County is reported to the president of the United States after each decennial census or six months after the appointment of the commission by the county executive, whichever is later, the commission shall file with the county clerk and with the office or officer charged with conducting elections in the county a final statement of the numbers and the boundaries of the districts together with a map of the districts. The final statement must receive the affirmative vote of a majority plus one of all the members....

Pursuant to the County Charter, the terms of the Commission members expired at 12:01 a.m. on November 29, 2021. The Commission neither adopted a reapportionment plan nor filed a final statement of reapportionment of the districts as required by the Charter. The parties assert the Charter makes no provision for extending the term of the Commission or accomplishing reapportionment by other means, and so, judicial intervention is necessary.

Pursuant to Article II, Section 2.035 of the St. Louis County Charter, St. Louis County must be divided into seven Council Districts meeting the requirements that the population of each district shall, as near as possible, be equal population, and that each district shall be composed of contiguous territory as compact as may be. The Districts may not be in violation of the Constitution of the United States and Missouri, or the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. §§ 10101 et seq.

During its existence, the Commission was presented with several reapportionment plans. Some were presented by the Democratic Commission members, others by the Republican Commission members. One plan referred to by the Republican Commissioners as the "Proposed Compromise Map" was created during a meeting where a subset of both Democratic and Republican Commissioners were present and contributing ideas, but there is dispute as to whether the Proposed Compromise Map was truly agreed upon by the Democratic Commissioners at the meeting. The Commission as a whole did not vote on the Proposed Compromise Map.

The existing County Council Districts were determined ten years ago by the Honorable Terry I. Adelman in a case styled Stenger v. Kellett , Cause No. 4:11-cv-2230-TIA, 2012 WL 601017 (E.D. Mo. February 23, 2012). Dr. David C. Kimball, the expert who testified in this case, was also the only retained expert in Stenger . In Stenger , Dr. Kimball created the only plan presented to the Court, and Judge Adelman adopted Dr. Kimball's plan.

The 2020 Decennial Census

According to the 2020 U.S. Decennial Census, the total population in St. Louis County is 1,004,125. The population of St. Louis County per the 2020 Census reflects that St. Louis County is not equally apportioned among the seven County Council Districts. For the Districts to be equally apportioned, each District would have an "ideal" population of 143,446.³ The parties stipulated that each of the seven existing Districts deviate from the ideal population as follows:

District No.	2020 Population	Deviation from Ideal Population	Percentage Deviation
1	127,640	-15,806	-11.02%
2	145,224	+1,778	+1.24%
3	148,797	+5,351	+3.73%
4	139,770	-3,676	-2.56%
5	149,235	+5,789	+4.04%
6	145,746	+2,300	+1.60%
7	147,713	+4,267	+2.97%

As is reflected in the data above, the maximum deviation from the least populated to the most populated existing districts is 21,595, or 15.05%. The average deviation among the Districts from the ideal population is 5,567, or 3.88%. The...