5th Circuit Judge Jerry Smith said he saw ample evidence in the case that Black voters are “able to participate equally” in the electoral process.
Jerry Mills, a lawyer for the city, said drawing ward lines based on mere estimates of Hattiesburg voters' racial demographics is “a dangerous use of numbers.”
“It changes,” he said, noting that Blacks accounted for an estimated 48 percent of the city's registered voters in 2001. “There was a shift of 4 percent in a four-year period.”
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
