Gomillion @ 50

     Fifty years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision on a case involving Tuskegee Alabama, a case that may have ramifications in 2011, as a new Republican majority takes control of the every-ten-year redrawing of voting districts in the state.

     Gommillion v Lightfoot stemmed from a decision by the Alabama Legislature to redraw the city's boundaries to eliminate black populations, preventing them from voting in city elections.

     The old city  lines were in a square. The new gerrymandered lines were a 28 point design that eliminated all but a few black voters, but no white voters at all.

The Square sides of the map show the original Tuskegee

limits, The lighter block shows the new city limits.

     The Supreme Court decision was unanimous...the Legislature's action was a violation of the 15th Amendment.

     78 year old veteran Alabama Civil Rights lawyer Fred Gray was a young man when he went before the Supreme Court to argue the case. He still practices law in Tuskegee and Montgomery today.

     You can listen to tape of his arguments before the court at the Oyez Project webpage here.