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Foreman v. Dallas County, 521 U.S. 979 (1997)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Foreman v. Dallas County, 521 U.S. 979 (1997)
Foreman v. Dallas County No. 96-987 Decided June 27, 1997 * 521 U.S. 979
ON APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
Syllabus
A Texas statute authorizes counties to appoint election judges to supervise voting on election days. Since 1982, Dallas County has changed its appointment procedures several times, always using party affiliation formulas. Appellants sued the county and others in the federal district court, claiming that § 5 of the Voting Rights Act required that the most recent change be precleared.
Held:
The district court’s decision is inconsistent with this Court’s precedents. First, an administrative effort to comply with a precleared statute may require separate preclearance, because § 5 reaches informal, as well as formal, changes. NAACP v. Hampton County Election Comm’n, 470 U.S. 166, 178. Second, the state’s 1985 submission -- which indicated that the only change being made to the statute was to the beginning date and duration of the election judges’ appointment -- was clearly insufficient to put the Justice Department on notice that the state was seeking to preclear using partisan affiliations to select election judges. See, e.g., Young v. Fordice, 520 U.S. 273, 283-287. Because the record is silent as to the county’s procedure for appointing election judges on the date on which Texas became a covered jurisdiction under the Voting Rights Act, this Court cannot make a final determination whether preclearance is in fact required.
No. 96-987 dismissed and remanded; No. 96-1389 vacated and remanded.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Foreman v. Dallas County, 521 U.S. 979 (1997) in 521 U.S. 979 521 U.S. 980. Original Sources, accessed November 22, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=THSU7BIXTCTLZ6P.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Foreman v. Dallas County, 521 U.S. 979 (1997), in 521 U.S. 979, page 521 U.S. 980. Original Sources. 22 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=THSU7BIXTCTLZ6P.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Foreman v. Dallas County, 521 U.S. 979 (1997). cited in 1997, 521 U.S. 979, pp.521 U.S. 980. Original Sources, retrieved 22 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=THSU7BIXTCTLZ6P.
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