Judge orders attorneys’ fees to Bird

May 30--ALBANY -- U.S. District Court Judge Louis Sands ordered Tuesday that Americus resident William Bird's attorneys' fees be paid by Liberty Mutual, the insurance company of the Sumter County Board of Education (BOE).

The court order lists the amount at $30,584.74 and that the amount will accrue interest at 0.09 percent per annum from the date of the order.

This stems from Bird's lawsuit against the Sumter County BOE and the Sumter County Board of Elections filed in May 2012. The lawsuit claimed violation of Bird's 14th Amendment rights.

The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the Sumter County BOE districts, claiming that the districts violated the principle of "one person, one vote." The lawsuit claimed that the districts, as drawn, were of disproportionate sizes. The plaintiff, Bird, sought to prohibit further Board member qualifications for election and to set aside any qualifications done in the present districts.

The lawsuit claimed that the nine-member Board of Education Districts had not been reapportioned after the 2010 census and any candidate qualifying for or winning a seat in the election would be from "unconstitutionally malapportioned districts."

The lawsuit asked the Court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions to disallow qualification of candidates and their election to the Board of Education.

The judge dismissed the case in October 2013. The dismissal lifted the injunction granted by the court on June 21, 2012, that stopped school board elections.

The court ruled that the matter was moot with the court no longer having subject matter jurisdiction over the case due to the June 26, 2013, U.S. Supreme Court decision that found the Voting Rights Acts Section 5 preclearance process unconstitutional. Sands deemed that the Supreme Court decision in the case that challenged the Section 4 preclearance process (Shelby County, Ala. vs Holder) rendered the Bird suit moot because Senate Bills 154 and 4EX were signed into law by the Governor. The ruling stated that there is nothing in the Supreme Court decision that prevents the decision from having a "retroactive effect typically afforded judicial decisions."

On June 28, 2013, an order was issued from the judge. The order asserted that the Supreme Court's ruling dissolves the formula set forth in Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and can "no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions for preclearance." With the retroactive effect, the Sumter BOE's withdrawal of their redistricting plan from the federal preclearance process is invalid. Since the Senate legislation for the plan was signed to law, the 2011 plan, unanimously approved by the BOE, is indeed the lawful plan.

Attorney for the Sumter County Board of Elections and Voter Registration, Bill NeSmith told the Times-Recorder at that time that the Board of Elections, Bird's attorney and the ACLU all agreed with Judge Sands' interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling, however the School Board's attorney Maurice King did not agree. NeSmith added that with the injunction lifted the Board of Elections can call for an election.

Board of Elections Supervisor, Robert Brady told the Times-Recorder at that time that he was awaiting instruction from the State Attorney General's office that wolud include a timeline for qualifying.

Elections were held in March. A primary election was held May 20.

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