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Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity v. Raffensperger

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity v. Raffensperger

United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division

February 28, 2022, Decided; February 28, 2022, Filed

CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:21-CV-5337-SCJ; CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:21-CV-5339-SCJ; CIVIL ACTION FILE No. 1:22-CV-122-SCJ

Opinion

ORDER FOLLOWING COORDINATED HEARING ON MOTIONS FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. BACKGROUND 11

A. What Is Redistricting and Why Is It Necessary? 12

B. Factual History 14

C. The Purpose of the Voting Rights Act and the Conduct It Prohibits 16

D. Timeline 19

II. LEGAL STANDARD 21

A. Preliminary Injunction 21

1. Eleventh Circuit 21

2. Recent Supreme Court Authority 23

B. The Voting Rights Act 27

1. The Gingles Preconditions [*7]  28

2. The Senate Factors 29

C. Evidentiary Considerations 32

D. Motions to Dismiss 33

III. FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 34

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits 34

1. The First Gingles Precondition: Numerosity and Compactness 35

a) Credibility Determinations 35

(1) Mr. Cooper 35

(2) Mr. Esselstyn 38

(3) Mr. Morgan 42

(4) Ms. Wright 46

b) First GinglesPrecondition Legal Standard 51

(1) Numerosity 52

(2) Compactness 54

c) Pendergrass 55

(1) Numerosity 58

(a) Demographic developments in Georgia 59

(b) Georgia's 2021 congressional plan 63

(c) The Pendergrass Plaintiffs' illustrative congressional plan 66

(2) Geographic Compactness 69

(a) Population equality 71

(b) Compactness 71

(c) Contiguity 76

(d) Preservation of political subdivisions 76

(e) Preservation of communities of interest 79

(f) Core Retention 85

(g) Racial considerations 87

(3) Conclusions of Law 92

d) Grant and Alpha Phi Alpha 93

(1) The Grant Plaintiffs are substantially likely to establish a Section 2 violation 101

(a) Senate Districts 101

i) Numerosity 101

ii) Geographic compactness 107

(a) Population equality 108

(b) Compactness 110

(c) Contiguity 115

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2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40166 *; 2022 WL 633312

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.

Prior History: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. v. Raffensperger, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40164 (N.D. Ga., Feb. 28, 2022)

CORE TERMS

districts, Map, compact, election, voters, state senate, candidates, redistricting, state house, voting, splits, plans, polarization, fig, precondition, score, principles, congressional district, community of interest, majority-Black, cases, political subdivision, Pairing, black population, expert report, incumbents, majority-minority, precinct, drawing, regions