Case 3:11-cv-00159-CWR -FKB Document 12 Filed 03/23/11 Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
JACKSON DIVISION

MISSISSIPPI STATE CONFERENCE OF THE NAACP, ET AL.

Plaintiffs,

vs. No. 3:11-cv-159 (DPJ)(FKB)

HALEY BARBOUR, ET AL.,

Defendants,
and

THE APPORTIONMENT AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE

OF THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Applicant for Intervention

MOTION TO INTERVENE OF THE

APPORTIONMENT AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE MISSISSIPPI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

COME NOW the Apportionment and Elections Committee of the Mississippi House

of Representatives and moves to intervene in this action pursuant to Rule 24 of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure.

1. The House Apportionment and Elections Committee passed a proposed plan

to reapportion the Mississippi House of Representatives in the wake of the 2010 census.

That plan was adopted by a majority vote of the House on two separate occasions during the

2011 Regular Session. However, the Senate rejected the plan, deviating from the long-

standing practice and custom in the Mississippi Legislature of each house deferring to the

other’s redistricting plan.

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2. In 1991, when the Mississippi Legislature’s redistricting plan was rejected by

the United States Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C

§ 1973c, the House Apportionment and Elections Committee was granted intervention to

participate in the ensuing federal court lawsuit that sought to adopt a plan for the upcoming

legislative elections. See, Watkins v. Mabus, 771 F. Supp. 789, 792-793 (S.D. Miss. 1991)

(three-judge court) (noting that the Court granted intervention to the House Committee and

other interested parties).

3. Intervention is sought as a matter of right under Rule 24(a), or alternatively

permissive intervention is sought under Rule 24(b). As set forth in the accompanying

memorandum, the prerequisites for intervention are met in this case.

4. Although the 2011 legislative session has not ended, it is possible that the

session will conclude without a plan having been passed by both houses. In anticipation of

that possibility, the Committee is filing this motion.

5. The Committee does not seek to designate itself either as a plaintiff or a

defendant. It agrees with the plaintiffs that the pre-existing plan violates the one-person,

one-vote principle of the Fourteenth Amendment and that absent the passage of a plan by

both houses of the Legislature, this Court must determine what plan will be used for the 2011

legislative elections. Attached to this motion is a proposed answer to the plaintiff’s

complaint.

6. The Plaintiffs and the Defendant Mississippi Democratic Executive Committee

2
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have no objection to this motion. The Attorney General’s office and the Defendant

Mississippi Republican Executive Committee have stated that they do not yet have a position

on this motion.

Respectfully submitted,
s/Robert B. McDuff
ROBERT B. MCDUFF
Miss. Bar No. 2532
767 North Congress Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
(601) 969-0802
rbm@mcdufflaw.com

Counsel for Applicant for Intervention

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on March 23, 2011, I electronically filed the foregoing Motion to

Intervene of the Apportionment and Elections Committee of the Mississippi House of Representatives

with the Clerk of the Court using the ECF system which sent notification to the following:

Carroll Edward Rhodes

LAW OFFICES OF CARROLL RHODES
P. O. Box 588
Hazlehurst, MS 39083

Michael B. Wallace
WISE CARTER CHILD & CARAWAY
P.O. Box 651
Jackson, MS 39205-0651

I certify that a copy of the foregoing has also been delivered via electronic mail to the

following:

Harold Pizzetta
Chief, Civil Litigation Division
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 220
Jackson, MS 39205

Samuel Begley
Begley Law Firm
P.O. Box 287
Jackson, MS 39205
Counsel for Defendant Mississippi Democratic Executive Committee

This 23rd day of March, 2011.

s/Robert B. McDuff
Counsel for the Applicant for Intervention