Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
52
Suit alleges clash of race, politics
In DeKalb County, where politics is a contact sport, an all-but-forgotten lawsuit from a former county commissioner has re-emerged with accusations of racism and dirty dealings.
Jacqueline Scott's federal complaint alleging racial gerrymandering may head to trial soon, threatening to expose what she calls backroom maneuvers that forced the 12-year incumbent from office in 2002.
Scott, who is white, claims that black state legislators from DeKalb redrew her district to disqualify her from re-election and clear a path
for an African-American successor --and a new black majority on the commission.
U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans has not decided if she will halt proceedings while attorneys defending the lawmak
ers
press the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of A
ppeals to reverse her order last month to proceed to trial.
The lawsuit names several black DeKalb legislators and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor as defendants. Beyond the legal challenges, the lawsuit alludes to another hand behind the scene: DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones. In her ruling, Evans noted "testimony suggesting that CEO Jones was involved in the reapportionment process and wanted Scott drawn out."
Scott often voted against Jones' proposals and once described him publicly as a "demagogue."
The case has brought to the surface the racially charged bouts that characterize politics in DeKalb. It is an environment that even turns Democrats against each other in the most heavily Democratic county i
n Georgia. Scott, Jones and the accused legislators are all Democrats.
Questions about Jones
Jones could figure prominently in the case even though he isn't a defendant.</
b> A
paramount
question is whether Jones, who is black, helped orchestrate a power shi
ft that created DeKalb's first predominantly black commission, one that votes his way more often since Scott's departure.
Jones has lashed out at news media coverage linking him to the case. But he has declined to address specific complaints in the lawsuit.
"I agree with Judge Evans' sound and legal principles in her decision," Jones said. "The judge said that my name was only referenced in rumors and gossip, and I don't comment on gossip."
Nonetheless, Jones will be called to testify, according to Scott's attorneys. If he does, he could be on a collision course with an old rival: former DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan, whom Jones accused of conducting a &qu
ot;witch hunt" against him last year with three grand juries that investigated his administration.
Morgan, who resigned in January and entered private practice, is now a member
of Scott
's legal team
and is responsible for cross-examining the defendants. He said he likely will treat his fellow Democrats as hostile wi
tnesses.
"The reason I'm involved in it is because I do know all the players; I know all the witnesses," Morgan said. " It helps when you've known people for years to know how to ask them questions. . . . Jones is just one of the factors in this case. When you get to the heart of it, this is a case where the civil rights of a person were violated solely because of their race."
Lead counsel for Scott is former state Attorney General Michael J. Bowers, whose role in the case has drawn Jones' ire. At a County Commission meeting Tuesday, Jones said Bowers, a Republican, was trying to undermine his administration.
&quo
t;Mike Bowers is heading the agenda to divide this county," Jones said.
Bowers, whom Jones also derided for switching parties, denied the accusation.
"F
or me, this
just a lawsuit," Bow
ers said. "I'm trying to win a lawsuit, I'm not trying to divide anything. All I can tell you is, he woefully overestimated me, and I'm flattered. I have no earthly i
dea what he's talking about."
Redistricting 'brutal'
The DeKalb commission districts were redrawn during the state Legislature's statewide redistricting process in early 2002. Lawmakers were charged with reapportioning voters evenly through each district to accommodate population changes found in the 2000 census.
Then politics kicked in. Each political party generally uses redistricting to boost its representation in elected office, increase the voting power of certain neighborhoods or minority groups and often to protect the seats of incumbents.
"People
were hammering you from everywhere. It was brutal," said state Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates). "I just think the discord came from the process itself. Peop
le get very ner
vous when their districts are red
rawn."
The final version of the DeKalb commission map moved Scott's home precinct in the neighborhood of Clifton from District 3 to District 5, already represented by Commissioner Hank Johnson. Larry Johnson, who
is black, was elected to replace Scott.
In her deposition, Drenner, who is not a defendant, said Scott's race was "absolutely not" a factor in her district being redrawn. She added that Jones called her on the House floor during the redistricting debates and said, "I'm asking for your support" on the redrawn map that eventually was passed. Drenner voted in favor of the map.
Jones testified in his deposition that neither he nor anyone from his office lent support to any proposed maps. When asked if he discussed the fin
al map with Drenner, he said he could not recall it.
The bill that ousted Scott came out of the state Senate, where it was authored and sponsored by state Sen.
Nadine Thomas. The
lawsuit states that as chair of the DeKa
lb delegation in the Senate, Thomas allegedly told then-Sen. Michael Polack and sent word to her other colleagues that keeping Scott in her district was "not up for negotiation."
Thomas has called Scott's lawsuit "paranoia" and she denies she wa
s influenced by Scott's race. In her deposition, Thomas said she pulled Scott's precinct into District 5 to combine communities with common interests.
As the case winds its way through the courts, the sitting commissioners are anxious about whether their districts might be scrapped and redrawn again. "As the politics of the community mature and the dust settles, I'm intrigued with how the county will look," Hank Johnson said. "This really is a tumultuous period in DeKal
b political history."
***********
As G. C. Wallace once said, "You've been out n-ggered."
T.N.B.
Suit alleges clash of race, politics
In DeKalb County, where politics is a contact sport, an all-but-forgotten lawsuit from a former county commissioner has re-emerged with accusations of racism and dirty dealings.
Jacqueline Scott's federal complaint alleging racial gerrymandering may head to trial soon, threatening to expose what she calls backroom maneuvers that forced the 12-year incumbent from office in 2002.
Scott, who is white, claims that black state legislators from DeKalb redrew her district to disqualify her from re-election and clear a path
for an African-American successor --and a new black majority on the commission.
U.S. District Judge Orinda Evans has not decided if she will halt proceedings while attorneys defending the lawmak
ers
press the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of A
ppeals to reverse her order last month to proceed to trial.
The lawsuit names several black DeKalb legislators and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor as defendants. Beyond the legal challenges, the lawsuit alludes to another hand behind the scene: DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones. In her ruling, Evans noted "testimony suggesting that CEO Jones was involved in the reapportionment process and wanted Scott drawn out."
Scott often voted against Jones' proposals and once described him publicly as a "demagogue."
The case has brought to the surface the racially charged bouts that characterize politics in DeKalb. It is an environment that even turns Democrats against each other in the most heavily Democratic county i
n Georgia. Scott, Jones and the accused legislators are all Democrats.
Questions about Jones
Jones could figure prominently in the case even though he isn't a defendant.</
b> A
paramount
question is whether Jones, who is black, helped orchestrate a power shi
ft that created DeKalb's first predominantly black commission, one that votes his way more often since Scott's departure.
Jones has lashed out at news media coverage linking him to the case. But he has declined to address specific complaints in the lawsuit.
"I agree with Judge Evans' sound and legal principles in her decision," Jones said. "The judge said that my name was only referenced in rumors and gossip, and I don't comment on gossip."
Nonetheless, Jones will be called to testify, according to Scott's attorneys. If he does, he could be on a collision course with an old rival: former DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan, whom Jones accused of conducting a &qu
ot;witch hunt" against him last year with three grand juries that investigated his administration.
Morgan, who resigned in January and entered private practice, is now a member
of Scott
's legal team
and is responsible for cross-examining the defendants. He said he likely will treat his fellow Democrats as hostile wi
tnesses.
"The reason I'm involved in it is because I do know all the players; I know all the witnesses," Morgan said. " It helps when you've known people for years to know how to ask them questions. . . . Jones is just one of the factors in this case. When you get to the heart of it, this is a case where the civil rights of a person were violated solely because of their race."
Lead counsel for Scott is former state Attorney General Michael J. Bowers, whose role in the case has drawn Jones' ire. At a County Commission meeting Tuesday, Jones said Bowers, a Republican, was trying to undermine his administration.
&quo
t;Mike Bowers is heading the agenda to divide this county," Jones said.
Bowers, whom Jones also derided for switching parties, denied the accusation.
"F
or me, this
just a lawsuit," Bow
ers said. "I'm trying to win a lawsuit, I'm not trying to divide anything. All I can tell you is, he woefully overestimated me, and I'm flattered. I have no earthly i
dea what he's talking about."
Redistricting 'brutal'
The DeKalb commission districts were redrawn during the state Legislature's statewide redistricting process in early 2002. Lawmakers were charged with reapportioning voters evenly through each district to accommodate population changes found in the 2000 census.
Then politics kicked in. Each political party generally uses redistricting to boost its representation in elected office, increase the voting power of certain neighborhoods or minority groups and often to protect the seats of incumbents.
"People
were hammering you from everywhere. It was brutal," said state Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates). "I just think the discord came from the process itself. Peop
le get very ner
vous when their districts are red
rawn."
The final version of the DeKalb commission map moved Scott's home precinct in the neighborhood of Clifton from District 3 to District 5, already represented by Commissioner Hank Johnson. Larry Johnson, who
is black, was elected to replace Scott.
In her deposition, Drenner, who is not a defendant, said Scott's race was "absolutely not" a factor in her district being redrawn. She added that Jones called her on the House floor during the redistricting debates and said, "I'm asking for your support" on the redrawn map that eventually was passed. Drenner voted in favor of the map.
Jones testified in his deposition that neither he nor anyone from his office lent support to any proposed maps. When asked if he discussed the fin
al map with Drenner, he said he could not recall it.
The bill that ousted Scott came out of the state Senate, where it was authored and sponsored by state Sen.
Nadine Thomas. The
lawsuit states that as chair of the DeKa
lb delegation in the Senate, Thomas allegedly told then-Sen. Michael Polack and sent word to her other colleagues that keeping Scott in her district was "not up for negotiation."
Thomas has called Scott's lawsuit "paranoia" and she denies she wa
s influenced by Scott's race. In her deposition, Thomas said she pulled Scott's precinct into District 5 to combine communities with common interests.
As the case winds its way through the courts, the sitting commissioners are anxious about whether their districts might be scrapped and redrawn again. "As the politics of the community mature and the dust settles, I'm intrigued with how the county will look," Hank Johnson said. "This really is a tumultuous period in DeKal
b political history."
***********
As G. C. Wallace once said, "You've been out n-ggered."
T.N.B.