ODEN Et Al. v. BRITTAIN Et Al.

Background

A group of Black citizens of Anniston, Alabama asked a Justice to block a local election set for September 2, 1969. The city planned to change from a three-member, at-large commission to a five-member, at-large city council under a state law. The applicants said the change needed review under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because it altered election procedures in effect on November 1, 1964.

Reasoning

The Justice considered whether to issue an extraordinary, last-minute court order to stop the election. He declined. He said the legal issues were unclear, that the applicants could later seek to set aside any election result, and that stopping city preparations now would impose a serious federal intervention in local affairs. He also noted a three-judge panel designated to hear the dispute had not yet acted and the applicants had not shown they exhausted immediate alternative procedures. For those reasons he doubted his authority to grant the requested relief and refused the injunction.

Real world impact

The decision lets the city proceed with the planned election while the legal fight continues. The Justice denied relief without prejudice, so the applicants can seek review from other members of the Court or from the designated three-judge court. This ruling is procedural and not a final decision on whether the change actually violates federal voting-law preclearance requirements.

Dissents or concurrances

The Justice referred to his prior disagreement with a recent Court majority on similar voting matters and to his earlier views opposing broad federal intervention in state and local election affairs, which help explain his caution here.