Ruling Sets Stage for Trial of Redistrict Suit

A federal judge Tuesday rejected Los Angeles County’s request to throw out a lawsuit accusing the Board of Supervisors of drawing its districts in a way to prevent the election of a Latino to the five-member board.

U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon’s ruling sets the stage for a Nov. 21 trial on the federal lawsuit seeking to require the supervisors to create a Latino-majority district. The lawsuit alleges that the supervisors split the the county’s 2 million Latinos among three districts, thereby weakening their political power in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

Responding to the county’s claim that it cannot be forced to redistrict before 1991 unless the 1981 redistricting plan was found to be illegal, Kenyon said that the intent of the voting rights law “would be obviated if a violation could not be rectified for the entire 10-year period.”

County Counsel De Witt Clinton said Tuesday the county will argue at trial that a district with a majority of Latino voters cannot be created, using 1980 U.S. Census figures.

Attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund have contended that the county could create a Latino majority district east and southeast of downtown Los Angeles under current population estimates.