In 1983-84 individual plaintiffs filed class actions against Jackson County, the School Board, and the City of Marianna, claiming that their at-large elections diluted Black voting strength in violation of Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act. All three cases resulted in judgments implementing single-member district plans with one or two majority-Black districts. We are working with the Jackson NAACP Branch to advocate for equitable redistricting. The county commission and school board finalized districts in Dec. 2021 and Jan. 2022. We jointly sought modification of the judgments in both cases, which were granted, allowing the new maps to be used.
