Handing a solid victory for the plaintiffs in a drawn-out legal battle over remapping Chicago’s wards, a federal judge Friday said she favored new boundaries supported by many minority aldermen and harshly criticized arguments made by white aldermen.
But U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo gave the city one last chance. She set a Wednesday deadline for the City Council to submit a new ward map that would accommodate the plaintiffs’ demands for one more African-American ward–giving the city 20 out of 50 wards with a majority of black voters.
Once drawn, the new map would likely require consideration at an emergency meeting next week of the City Council, now recessed until September.
If the city can’t come up with a satisfactory map, Bucklo said she will accept one that has been submitted by the plaintiffs, a group of African-American aldermen.
The plaintiffs’ map would shift portions of several Southwest Side wards and split off part of the clout-heavy Beverly neighborhood to ensure that the 18th Ward has a majority of black voters. In making the 18th Ward more heavily populated by blacks, it would also increase the white majority in the 19th.
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Regardless of the outcome, the remap is almost sure to have an impact on next year’s aldermanic races. Changes in the 18th Ward, for instance, could jeopardize the political future of its alderman, Thomas Murphy, who is white.
In explaining her ruling, Bucklo rebuked arguments by several aldermen that the remap could change the character of their neighborhoods, negatively affect city services and prompt white flight.
“There is simply no evidence in this record to support the argument that the differences in income noted by defendants create a divergence of cultural or economic interests that would prevent an alderman from representing both constituencies,” Bucklo wrote.
“I am similarly unpersuaded by the fears of various witnesses that the displacement of a portion of the Beverly-Morgan Park area into another aldermanic ward will result in the destruction of the community,” she added.
The judge dismissed claims that the plaintiffs redrew the wards to ensure Murphy’s ouster.
She also labeled as “not believable” 19th Ward Ald. Virginia Rugai’s contention that white residents in the 18th and 19th Wards had different interests and economic status. Residents, including blacks and whites, of the 19th Ward’s eastern section also have expressed concern they would not receive the same level of city services if the remap places them in a minority ward.
Bucklo’s ruling was hailed as a long-sought victory by the plaintiffs in the case, which was filed in 1992.
“This is a clear-cut win,” said Judson Miner, the plaintiffs’ attorney. “They got a shot in the City Council to try to draw a map. That’s OK. We’re certainly pleased.”
Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) said the city “shortchanged our communities” when it redrew the wards after the 1990 census, and she said she hopes Bucklo’s ruling will set a precedent that makes future remaps easier. The next remap will occur after the 2000 census.
“We’ve all got to live in this city,” she said.
An attorney for the city disputed the ruling but vowed to work through the weekend to draw a map meeting the judge’s demands and leaving the 19th Ward–which includes the Beverly/Morgan Park area–as is.
Jerold Solovy, an attorney representing the city and the bloc of aldermen, most of whom are white, who prefer the ward map remain unchanged, said there were better alternatives than slicing up the 19th.
“We do think an opinion like this is terribly wrong,” he said. “It says black people must live on this side of the tracks, and white people must live on the other side.
“You would think this would come from some legislator in Mississippi in the 1800s before the Civil War,” he said. “It’s really offensive.”
Murphy said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the ruling.
“Their goal was to eliminate a white alderman,” Murphy said of the plaintiffs. “Her decision, if it was left to stand, would mean there is only one factor to be considered in redistricting: race.
“That’s the only factor,” he said. “Neighborhoods don’t matter. Historical boundaries don’t matter. Topography doesn’t matter. Socio-economic factors don’t matter.”
Murphy said his family had been planning to leave on vacation this weekend to visit Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Instead, he said, he’ll spend his weekend helping city attorneys to draw a new ward map.