At 12:59 p.m. on April 30, the three-judge U.S. federal district court in Augusta released an interim decision in the case of Johnson v. Miller relative to state House and Senate district lines for the 1996 primary and general elections. The text of that decision follows.

The decision mentions two appendixes. Appendix A consists of 150 pages of census descriptions, and Appendix B consists of House and Senate districts as approved by the court for 1996 elections.

Although not evident from the text of the decision, the court ruled that House and Senate districts as redrawn at the 1995 special session will be in effect for the 1996 primary and general elections, except that the boundaries of Senate district 12 and 14 will revert to their 1992 boundaries (with the exception that district 12 will now pick up all--instead of just portions--of Baker County). Additionally, all House districts in Chatham County will revert to their boundaries as spelled out in the General Assembly's 1992 reapportionment plan.

The compromise decision was made by the federal court in order to allow candidates for General Assembly races to begin qualifying for the 1996 primary and general elections and is only valid for the 1996 elections. After the decision's release, copies were distributed to the Governor, Secretary of State, and General Assembly. Presumably, qualifying can begin right away.
 
 

DAVIDA JOHNSON, et al.,

vs.
 

ZELL MILLER, et al.,

and

LUCIOUS ABRAMS, JR.; REV. G. L.
AVERY; WILLIAM GARY CHAMBERS, SR.;
LEON COVERSON; ROBERT WOODS;
LEON BYNES; and BARBARA GORDON,

Intervening Defendants,

and
 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In the captioned case the three-judge District Court convened hearings on April 16, 1996, and April 23, 1996, to consider respectively the constitutionality and remedies for certain challenged Georgia State House and Senate election districts. Previously, this three-judge Court has enjoined the candidate qualification period which was originally scheduled to begin April 22, 1996, and has also stated from the bench and into the record of these proceedings a list of election districts for which we have determined that the Plaintiffs are entitled to interim relief. While a much larger number of districts are subject to concessions between the parties with respect to the Court's interim remedy, those districts which we have directly found to be unconstitutionally composed are as follows: House Districts 111, 120, 121, 131, 133, 136, 140, 141, 158, 159, 173, 178, and 179; Senate Districts 10, 11, and 55.

It is an urgent necessity for this Court to release its remedial redistricting plans for the Georgia legislative election as soon as possible. The circumstances under which this release is made are of the most exigent nature. Candidates for office must know the location of their districts. Information relative to the districts must be circulated and published. Unless candidates are able to qualify in early May 1996, the legislative elections may have to be postponed at great cost and with potentially disastrous effect on voter turnout. The earlier the release of our remedy plan, the less will be the voters' confusion. While we would much prefer to release the Court's redistricting plans together with a memorandum opinion detailing our findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the reasons for the plans' configurations, the present circumstances mandate a more expeditious approach.

We stress that this redistricting plan is an interim measure. In due course the Court will conduct a full trial upon the merits of all of the issues finally raised in the pleadings. The redistricting plan released herewith by reference to computer printed maps and census tract descriptions refer only to the November 1996 elections pertaining to the Legislature of the State of Georgia and all primaries, runoffs, qualifications, and other election events pertaining to that one election cycle alone. Any relief or remedy ordered by the final judgment of this Court may be similar or dissimilar to this interim plan.

Finally, it should be noted that this Court's opinion detailing the reasons for its holdings with respect to the unconstitutionality of certain districts and the remedies provided therefor will be filed as soon hereafter as practicable. The conducting of the elections is by no means contingent upon release of that opinion. In all events, this Court retains full and plenary jurisdiction and in this matter for the purpose of filing our opinion, expanding and amending our opinion, and for the purpose of enforcing all of the provisions of this Order and any supplements thereto which may be incorporated within the Memorandum of Opinion to be filed hereafter.

Upon the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the captioned matter is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the original Defendants herein shall conduct the 1996 election cycle for the Legislature of the State of Georgia, as aforementioned, in accordance with and pursuant to the compilation of counties and census tracts appended hereto as "Appendix A" which are depicted upon the redistricting maps appended hereto as "Appendix B."

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the Reapportionment Services Office of the Georgia General Assembly is authorized to release such maps and any census block description of these districts as soon as practicable so that such information can be immediately published and used by election officials throughout the State.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that this Court shall retain jurisdiction over all aspects of this case, to order other and further relief herein, over the enforcement hereof throughout these proceedings, and specifically for the purpose of issuing its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law as contemplated under Fed. R. Civ. P. 52 in order to explain the Court's reasoning in all matters affected hereby.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the Defendant Officers and Officials of the State of Georgia shall take such actions as may be necessary to establish a period of time during which all candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Legislature of the State of Georgia shall qualify for election purposes in accordance with State law, except as to dates. In no event shall the qualifying period be extended beyond the close of business on May 17, 1996.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the calculation of time for the purposes of filing an appeal of this Order shall begin for all parties on the date of the filing of this Court's Memorandum of Opinion as aforementioned.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of this Court shall serve and provide copies of only this five-page Order pursuant to the Local Rules of this Court; upon request, copies of the Appendices shall be made available by the Reapportionment Services Office in accordance with the rules and practices of that office.

ORDER ENTERED at Augusta, Georgia, this 30th day of April, 1996.

HONORABLE ED CARNES
UNITED STATES APPELLATE JUDGE

HONORABLE JULIE E. CARNES
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

HONORABLE DUDLEY H. BOWEN, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

By /s/ Dudley H. Bowen, Jr.
FOR THE THREE-JUDGE DISTRICT COURT