Common Cause/Georgia v. Billups

504 F.Supp.2d 1333

COMMON CAUSE/GEORGIA, League of Women Voters of Georgia, Inc., The Central Presbyterian Outreach and Advocacy Center, Inc., Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, Inc., The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), through its Georgia State Conference of Branches, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc., Bertha B. Young, and Eugene Taylor, Plaintiffs, v. Evon BILLUPS, Superintendent of Elections for the Board of Elections and Voter Registration for Floyd County and the City of Rome, Georgia, Tracy Brown, Superintendent of Elections of Bartow County, Georgia, Gary Petty, Michelle Hudson, Amanda Spender, Ron McKelvey, and Nina Crawford, Members of the Board of Elections and Registration of Catoosa County, Georgia, Judge John Payne, Superintendent of Elections of Chattooga

County, Georgia, Shea Hicks, Superintendent of Elections for Gordon County, Georgia, Jennifer A. Johnson, Superintendent of Elections for Polk County, Georgia, Individually and in their Respective Official Capacities as Superintendents or Members of the Elections Board in their Individual Counties, and as Class Representatives, and Karen Handel, individually and in her official capacities as Secretary of State of Georgia and Chair of the Georgia Elections Board, Defendants, and

The State Election Board, Intervenor-Defendant.

Civil Action File No. 4:05-CV-0201-HLM.

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

September 6, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

David G.H. Brackett, Emmet J. Bondurant, II, Jason James Carter, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, Elizabeth Lynn Littrell, Gerald R. Weber, Margaret Fletcher Garrett, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia, Inc, Meredith Bell-Platts, Moffatt Laughlin McDonald, Neil T. Bradley, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Southern Regional Office, Miles J. Alexander, Seth Aaron Cohen, Lauren T. Estrin, Kilpatrick Stockton, Ralph Irving Knowles, Jr., Doffermyre Shields Canfield Knowles & Devine, Tisha

Rae Tallman, Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Atlanta, GA, Edward Hine, Jr., Office of Edward Hine, Jr., Rome, GA, Jon M. Greenbaum, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Michael D. McRae, Smith Shaw & Maddox, Brad J. McFall, Gammon & Anderson, Cedartown, GA, Thomas Hunter Manning, Smith Shaw & Maddox, Rome, GA, Peter R. Olson, Jenkins & Olson, Cartersville, GA, Clifton M. Patty, Jr., Office of Clifton M. Patty, Jr., Ringgold, GA, Christopher Lee Corbin, Farrar & Corbin, P.C., Summerville, GA, Martha Suzanne Hutchinson, Calhoun, GA, Robert Harris Smalley, III, McCamy Phillips Tuggle & Fordham, Dalton, GA, Anne Ware Lewis, Strickland Brockington Lewis, Mark Howard Cohen, Troutman Sanders, Stefan Ernst Ritter, Office of State Attorney General, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

MURPHY, District Judge.

This case is an action to have the photo identification ("Photo ID") requirement set forth in Senate Bill 84 ("The 2006 Photo ID Act") declared unconstitutional both on its face and as applied, and to enjoin its enforcement on the ground that it imposes an unauthorized, unnecessary, and undue burden on the fundamental right to vote of hundreds of thousands of registered Georgia voters, in violation of the Fourteenth and Twenty-Fourth Amendments to the federal Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A. § 1971(a)(2)(A) and (a)(2)(B)), and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.A. § 1973(a)). The case came before the Court on August 22 through August 24, 2007, for a bench trial on Plaintiffs' request for a permanent injunction. This Order first sets forth the procedural background for the case, and then sets forth the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law from the bench trial.

At the outset, the Court commends counsel on both sides of this case for their courteousness and professionalism. Counsel worked diligently to prepare this case for trial within a very short time frame, and managed to complete discovery in an equally short time frame with only minimal intervention by the Court. Counsel's preparation, diligence, competence, and professionalism all made the litigation of this case much easier for the Court and the parties.

I. Procedural Background

1. On September 1, 2005, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit. (Docket Entry No. 1.) Plaintiffs initially asserted that the Photo ID requirement in the 2005 Amendment to O.C.G.A. § 21-2-417 (Act. No. 53) ("The 2005 Photo ID Act") violated the federal and Georgia constitutions, was a poll tax that violated the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause, unduly burdened the fundamental right to vote, violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

2. On September 19, 2005, Plaintiffs requested that the Court schedule a preliminary injunction hearing.

3. On that same day, the Court entered an Order scheduling a preliminary injunction hearing for October 12, 2005. (Order of Sept. 19, 2005.)

4. On October 6, 2005, Plaintiffs filed a formal Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

5. On October 7, 2005, former Secretary of State Cathy Cox and the State Election Board (the "State Defendants") filed a Motion to Dismiss Individual Capacity Claims.

6. On October 11, 2005, individual Plaintiff Tony Watkins filed a Stipulation of Dismissal Without Prejudice of his claims.

7. On October 12, 2005, Plaintiffs filed their First Amendment to Complaint, which addressed the issue of standing for the organizational Plaintiffs.

8. On October 12, 2005, the Court held a hearing with respect to Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction. (Oct, 12, 2005, Hr'g Tr.) During the October 12, 2005, hearing, the parties presented evidence and arguments in support of their respective positions. (Id.)

9. On October 18, 2005, the Court entered an Order granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction and finding that Plaintiffs had a substantial likelihood of success on their claims that the 2005 Photo ID Act unduly burdened the right to vote, and that the 2005 Photo ID Act constituted a poll tax. (Order of Oct. 18, 2005.)

10. On October 19, 2005, the Court denied the State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Individual Capacity (aims. (Order of Oct. 19, 2005.)

11. On October 20, 2005, the Court denied the State Defendants' Motion to Stay Preliminary Injunction Pending Appeal. (Order of Oct. 20, 2005.)

12. The State Defendants appealed the October 18, 2005, Order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, requesting that the Eleventh Circuit stay the Court's October 18, 2005, Order pending resolution of the appeal:

13. On October 27, 2005, the Eleventh Circuit denied the State Defendants' Motion to Stay the October 18, 2005, Order pending resolution of the appeal.

14. In January 2006, the Georgia General Assembly passed the 2006 Photo ID Act, which Governor Purdue signed into law.

15. On February 23, 2006, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint. In that Motion, Plaintiffs sought permission to amend their First Amended to Complaint to assert claims that both the 2005 Photo ID Act and the 2006 Photo ID Act violated the Georgia Constitution, the federal Equal Protection Clause, the Fourteenth and Twenty-Fourth Amendments to the federal Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

16. On March 2, 2006, the Court held a telephone conference with counsel to discuss the issues relating to preclearance of the 2006 Photo ID Act by the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ"). The Court stayed the proceedings in this case pending notification of the DOJ's decision concerning preclearance of the 2006 Photo ID Act. (Order of Mar. 2, 2006.)

17. On April 21, 2006, former Secretary of State Cox filed a Notice of Section 5 Preclearance of Act 432 (SB 84).

18. On that same day, the Court entered an Order lifting the stay in this case, and setting forth a briefing schedule for Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Preliminary Injunction. (Order of Apr. 21, 2006.)

19. On April 26, 2006, Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint.

20. On May 5, 2006, Plaintiffs filed a Motion to Revise Scheduling Order of April 21, 2006, pending the State Election Board's adoption of rules and regulations implementing the 2006 Photo ID Act, and pending DOJ preclearance of those rules and regulations.

21. On that same day, the Court approved a Consent Order revising the briefing schedule for Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Preliminary Injunction to require Plaintiffs to file that Motion within ten days after the rules and regulations adopted by the State Election Board received preclearance from the DOJ. (Order of May 5, 2006.)

22. On May 10, 2006, former Secretary of State Cox and the State Election Board filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in Part.

23. On May 25, 2006, Plaintiffs filed a Second Motion for Order to Certify Questions of State Law to the Georgia Supreme Court.

24. On June 29, 2006, the Court entered an Order granting the Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in Part, dismissing Counts One and Three of Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint, as well as the portions of Counts Two, Five, and Six of Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint that challenged the 2005 Photo ID Act. (Order of June 29, 2006.) In that same Order, the Court denied Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Order to Certify Questions of State Law to the Georgia Supreme Court. (Id.)

25. After the Court's June 29, 2006, Order, the following claims asserted in Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint remained pending. In Count Two of their Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs contended that the Photo ID requirement imposes an undue burden on the right to...