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EX-JP CLAIMS DISCRIMINATION IN SUIT TO REGAIN QUORUM COURT SEAT

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, October 9, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

A trial date of Aug. 3, 2009, has been set for a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Desha County Quorum Court member.

Civil rights Attorney John Walker and Attorney Jimmy Morris Jr. of Little Rock filed a lawsuit Sept. 19 in U.S. District Court in Pine Bluff on behalf of former Desha County Justice of the Peace Onie Norman and resident Flora Simons.

The lawsuit was filed against Desha County Judge Mark McElroy and the white members of the county’s quorum court.

Norman’s seat on the quorum court was vacated July 17 following her purchase and claim of a home outside the commonly accepted boundaries of her represented district to be her primary residence.

The suit claims McElroy and the white members of the court have purposefully used county resources to unfairly benefit the county’s white residents. It also states the court removed Norman from office without legitimate reason to silence her advocacy for African American residents.

“It doesn’t take a genius to see the disparity in the way resources are allocated to taxpayers,” Norman said. “If an African American asks for something, you’ll be at the bottom of the list.”

In 2006, Norman bought a house located at 120 U.S. 65 at Dumas. According to the quorum court’s current map of district boundaries, the house is outside of District 3, the district Norman was elected to represent.

An August 2000 list of Desha County registered voters shows 120 U.S. 65 as being within District 3. An e-mail sent to Norman from Tim Humphries of the Secretary of State’s office stated the office has a record of Desha County initiating a district boundary shift following the 2000 census, but does not have a record of the process being completed.

For this reason coupled with Desha County exceeding the deadline for apportionment in 2002, Norman has questioned the legality of the currently accepted district boundaries and claimed her U.S. 65 house may still legally be in District 3.

“It’s a simple matter of someone moved out of the district,” McElroy said. “It’s just that simple. The law says you can’t do that and I’m sure it will all be proven in court.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth as to who is officially accountable for setting those lines. What we have to go on is what is in our voting system now,” McElroy said recently.

The suit, also filed against Desha County and the quorum court as a whole, states Norman “seeks a declaration that the defendants seek to dilute the vote of African American citizens by preventing her from exercising rights secured to her individually and by election by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

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