NAACP and Other to sue over NC Districts Maps

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 2, 2011

For More Information:
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
Atty. Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700
Atty. Irv Joyner, Legal Redress Chair, 919-530-6293
Atty. Al McSurely, Communications Chair, lawyers@mcsurely.com

DURHAM - Yesterday, after it spent 60 days looking at a cleverly designed scheme to resegregate voters in North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Justice informed us that the U.S. Attorney General did not "interpose any objection" to the scheme. The next sentence in the letter said, "However, we note that Section 5 expressly provides that the failure of the Attorney General to object [to a redistricting scheme] does not bar subsequent litigation (our emphasis) to enjoin the enforcement of the changes."

That's exactly what we shall do this Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. in Wake County Superior Court. We are honored to be co-plaintiffs with the League of Women Voters, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and Democracy, NC -- organizations that have had their hands on the Plow of Democracy for a long time -- as we file a lawsuit asking our North Carolina courts to stop this cleverly disguised race-based scheme.

We shall sue the leaders of the NC House and Senate, Thom Tillis and Phil Berger. They paid good taxpayer money to outside consultants to develop a scheme to resegregate minority voters and dilute our voting power.

These consultants know that blatant Jim Crow acts are illegal, so they came up with their James Crow schemes instead. Jim Crow used blunt tools. James Crow uses surgical tools to cut out the heart of black political power. James Crow uses high-tech, clever consultants to pick apart black communities block by block and increase the prosperity of a few Americans by trying to divide, segregate, and fool the rest of us.

We also name the State of North Carolina and the State Board of Elections as defendants in our lawsuit, since they are charged with carrying out this race-based plan.

We welcome the media to join us at the Wake County Courthouse at 10:00 a.m., Friday morning, November 4, 2011, where our attorneys from Southern Coalition for Social Justice will distribute copies of our filed complaint. A news conference will follow.

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