Samuelsen et al v. Treadwell et al

Filing 19

ORDER: denying plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order 3 . Signed by Judge Sharon L. Gleason on 06/15/2012. (AEM, CHAMBERS STAFF)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA
H. ROBIN SAMUELSEN, JR., RUSSELL
S. NELSON, VICKI OTTE, and MARTIN
B. MOORE, SR.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MEAD TREADWELL, in his official
capacity as Lieutenant Governor for the
State of Alaska; and GAIL FENUMIAI, in
her official capacity as Director of the
Division of Elections for the State of
Alaska,
Defendants.

Case No. 3:12-cv-00118-SLG

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING
ORDER
The plaintiffs initiated this action on June 7, 2012, seeking declaratory and
injunctive relief to enforce Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which requires that
certain voting changes be precleared by the Department of Justice. 1 Specifically, the
plaintiffs seek to enjoin the implementation of the Amended Proclamation Plan that
establishes new legislative districts in the State of Alaska for the upcoming elections.
On May 22, 2012, the Alaska Supreme Court issued an order directing that the
Amended Proclamation Plan be used as the “Interim Plan” for the upcoming 2012
election cycle. 2

On May 25, 2012, the Alaska Redistricting Board submitted the

Amended Proclamation Plan to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for Section 5
1

Docket 1; 42 U.S.C. § 1973c. Preclearance by the Department of Justice is an alternative to
seeking a declaratory judgment approving the plan from the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia. 42 U.S.C. §1973c(a).

2

Ex. G to Opp. (Docket 11-7).

preclearance. 3

The DOJ has up to 60 days thereafter within which to approve or

disapprove the plan. On June 1, 2012, the candidacy filing period closed. 4 The primary
election is currently scheduled for August 28, 2012. 5
On the same day that the Complaint in this action was filed, June 7, 2012, the
plaintiffs filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”), 6 a Motion for
Preliminary Injunction, 7 and a Motion to Convene Three-Judge District Court pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 1973c(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 2284. 8

The defendants agreed that the

applicable law directs the appointment of a three-judge court, and thus filed a joinder in
the Motion to Convene. 9 This court granted that motion on June 11, 2012, and has
requested that the Chief Circuit Judge appoint a three-judge panel for this case. 10
Until the three-judge panel is appointed, this court sits as a single-judge court,
with the limited authority prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 2284(b)(3):
A single judge may conduct all proceedings except the trial, and
enter all orders permitted by the rules of civil procedure except as
provided in this subsection. [Sh]e may grant a temporary restraining
order on a specific finding, based on evidence submitted, that
specified irreparable damage will result if the order is not granted,
which order, unless previously revoked by the district judge, shall
3

Opp. at 4 (Docket 11).

4

See Fenumiai Letter of Apr. 26, 2012, Ex. D. to Opp. (Docket 11-4).

5

Id.

6

Docket 5.

7

Docket 4.

8

Docket 6.

9

Docket 9.

10

Order Granting Motion to Convene Three-Judge Court (Docket 13).

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Order Denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for TRO
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remain in force only until the hearing and determination by the
district court of three judges of an application for a preliminary
injunction. A single judge shall not appoint a master, or order a
reference, or hear and determine any application for a preliminary
or permanent injunction or motion to vacate such an injunction, or
enter judgment on the merits. Any action of a single judge may be
reviewed by the full court at any time before final judgment.
Thus, this single-judge court has authority to consider the plaintiffs’ pending
Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), and to enter a TRO if necessary to
prevent “specified irreparable damage” until the three-judge court convenes to
determine the plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The Motion for a Temporary
Restraining Order was fully briefed as of June 13, 2012. Oral argument was held before
this court on June 14, 2012.
The parties agree that the Amended Proclamation Plan at issue in this case is
within the scope of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”) and subject to its
preclearance requirements. 11

And they agree that the plan has not received

preclearance as of this time. Their present dispute is whether and to what extent this
single-judge court should temporarily enjoin the Division of Elections from using the
Amended Proclamation Plan for any action antecedent to an election until the Motion for
Preliminary Injunction is determined by the three-judge panel.
What is the applicable standard for issuance of a Section 5 TRO?
The parties dispute the applicable legal standard for obtaining a temporary
restraining order under U.S.C. § 2284(b)(3). The plaintiffs argue that any violation of

11

See Opp. at 3 (Docket 11); Reply at 2 (Docket 17).

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Section 5 of the VRA “is presumed to be an irreparable injury.” 12 Thus, the plaintiffs
assert that once they “establish that there is a violation of Section 5, the irreparable
injury requirement is met.” 13 The defendants maintain that a “specific demonstration of
irreparable injury by the party seeking relief is … an essential prerequisite” 14 to
obtaining a Section 5 TRO.
While there is considerable case law with respect to the standard for the
issuance of a preliminary injunction by a three-judge panel when a Section 5
preclearance violation has been alleged, 15 that issue is not before this court at this time.
Rather, the current issue is the plaintiffs’ request for a single judge to issue a short term
temporary restraining order. As both the parties and the court noted at oral argument,
the case law on this topic is minimal.

Nonetheless, this court finds that the plain

language of the applicable statute clearly delineates the standard for a party seeking a
TRO from a single-judge court in a VRA proceeding. The statute specifically requires
that a single judge “may grant a temporary restraining order on a specific finding, based
on evidence submitted, that specified irreparable damage will result if the order is not
granted.” 16 Based on this language, this court rejects the plaintiffs’ assertion that any
implementation of a plan that has not been precleared automatically entitles a moving
party to a TRO from a single-court judge.

Instead, a showing of a specific and

12

Reply at 6 (Docket 17).

13

Id.

14

Opp. at 5 (Docket 11).

15

See, e.g., United States v. Louisiana, 952 F. Supp. 1151, 1159-61 (W.D. La.)

16

28 U.S.C. § 2284 (b)(3).

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immediate injury must be made before emergency injunctive relief can be ordered by a
single judge in a VRA Section 5 challenge. Such injury must be scheduled to occur
prior to the three-judge panel convening. This approach is consistent with the statute’s
goal of providing that absent truly urgent circumstances, a three-judge panel, and not a
single judge, is statutorily charged with the responsibility of making determinations in
Section 5 VRA proceedings.
The plaintiffs cite extensively to Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
(“PRLDEF”), where the Eastern District of New York, sitting as a single-judge court,
granted a TRO that enjoined the defendants from commencing a petitioning process for
primary qualification based on a redistricting plan that was awaiting preclearance. 17
But the timelines in that case were significantly more compressed than those before this
court.

In PRLDEF, the new district lines had been drawn by June 7, 1991, and

circulation of nominating petitions for party primaries was scheduled to begin on June
17, 1991. 18 A single-court judge issued the TRO order on June 12, 1991. Thus, it
appears the single-judge court was faced with the impending primary qualification
petitioning process prior to the convening of a three-judge court. Here, a comparable
event—the candidacy filing deadline—had already passed on June 1, 2012, prior to the
institution of this action. And the Affidavit of the Director of the Division of Elections,
Gail Fenumiai, that was submitted in support of the defendants’ opposition indicates that

17

769 F. Supp. 74, 75, 79 (E.D.N.Y. 1991). See also Gresham v. Harris, 695 F. Supp. 1179
(N.D. Ga. 1988) vacated and remanded for determination of mootness sub nom. Poole v.
Gresham, 488 U.S. 978 (1988).
18

Id. at 75.

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although there are election-related tasks that the Division plans to undertake in the next
two weeks, “none of these tasks will directly or indirectly impact voters.” 19
The defendants cite to Barron v. New York City Board of Elections, an
unpublished case that was also from the Eastern District of New York. 20 There, a
single-judge court declined to issue a TRO. The case involved one candidate running
unopposed whose name had been left off of certain ballots in an election for a twomonth vacancy. The plaintiffs sought to require her name to be printed on the ballots.
The court reasoned that although ballot printing was imminent, there would be no
irreparable harm if the candidate’s name was not printed on all the ballots in those
circumstances. Clearly, the facts at issue here are markedly different; the Amended
Proclamation Plan has far greater ramifications to the electorate in Alaska. But the
Barron case nonetheless supports this court’s conclusion that the applicable statute
requires a showing of specific and immediate irreparable damage before a single-judge
court may order temporary injunctive relief in a Section 5 Voting Rights Act case.
For the foregoing reasons, this court finds that 28 U.S.C. § 2284(b)(3) requires
that a temporary restraining order must be supported by findings of specified actual and
immediate irreparable damage that necessitate action by single judge before a threejudge panel can convene and determine the issues. 21

19

Aff. of Gail Fenumiai ¶¶ 4, 6 (Docket 12). However, beginning on June 29, 2012, special
absentee ballots must be mailed to voters. See Fenumiai Letter of Apr. 11, 2012, Ex. C to Opp.
(Docket 11-3); AS 15.20.082(a).

20

Opp. at 6; Barron, 08-cv-3839 RJD RER, 2008 WL 4449650 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2008).

21

This court’s determination is influenced by federalism concerns that advise caution when
intervening in state action. In Page v. Bartels, 248 F.3d 175 (3d Cir. 2001), the Third Circuit
addressed the appropriateness of granting interim relief “to enjoin and restrain implementation
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Have the plaintiffs met their burden for temporary injunctive relief?
28 U.S.C. § 2284(b)(3) requires a single-judge court to base a finding of
“specified irreparable damage” “on evidence submitted.” The statute also provides that
a TRO issued by a single-judge court “shall remain in force only until the hearing and
determination by the district court of three judges of an application for a preliminary
injunction[.]” At oral argument, this court stated that it expects the three-judge court to
convene on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction sometime between June 27, 2012 and
June 29, 2012. 22 The parties dispute whether the plaintiffs have met their burden of
demonstrating, through evidence in the record, that irreparable damage will occur in the
approximate next two weeks unless a TRO is issued.
The plaintiffs filed three documents with their motion: a printout of the Division of
Elections homepage, a list of candidates who appear to have filed under the unprecleared plan, and a copy of a notice from the Division of Elections stating that it had
adopted the un-precleared plan as an emergency regulation. 23

While this

documentation demonstrates that the Division is implementing a voting plan that has not
been precleared by the Department of Justice, in apparent violation of Section 5 of the

or reliance” on the newly-adopted legislative redistricting plan” that was the subject of the
plaintiffs’ Section 2 claim. Id. at 195. After noting its “keen awareness of the significant
disruption that action on our part (or on the part of any federal court issuing interim relief) will
have on the upcoming New Jersey legislative elections,” and citing the Supreme Court’s
language in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 585 (1964), the court stated that “[i]f aggressive
federal court intervention is not necessarily appropriate following an adjudication of
unconstitutionality, then surely it cannot be any more appropriate at this early stage of the
proceedings.” Page, 248 F.3d at 195-96.
22

Currently, it appears probable that the hearing will be on June 28, 2012. A scheduling order
will be issued when a date is confirmed.
23

Docket 5-1 to 5-3.

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VRA, it does not demonstrate that there will be immediate and actual irreparable
damage unless the implementation of that plan is immediately enjoined by a single
judge before the three-judge panel convenes.
At oral argument, the plaintiffs cited to Ms. Fenumiai’s letters to the Redistricting
Board in support of their assertion of specific immediate damage. 24 Ms. Fenumiai’s
affidavit also details the tasks that the Division of Elections expects to conduct in the
next two weeks. 25 But as noted above, Ms. Fenumiai’s affidavit indicates that as far as
she is aware, “none of these tasks will directly or indirectly impact voters in the
upcoming two weeks.” 26 The plaintiffs have not pointed to any evidence to the contrary
in the record before this court.
This court has also considered that the primary election is not scheduled to occur
until August 28, 2012.

On May 22, 2012 the Alaska Supreme Court ordered the

Division to use the “Interim Plan” for the 2012 election cycle, a plan that had not been
precleared by DOJ. The plaintiffs did not file this action until June 7, 2012—16 days
later and after the June 1, 2012 candidate filing deadline had passed. The approximate
two week delay at this time until the three-judge panel convenes is comparable.
Upon consideration of the record as a whole, this court finds that the plaintiffs
have not presented evidence sufficient to support a finding that, absent a TRO,

24

Fenumiai Letters of Apr. 11, 2012 and Apr. 26, 2012; Exs. C and D to Opp. (Docket 11-3, 114).

25

Aff. of Gail Fenumiai ¶ 4 (Docket 12 ).

26

Id.

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“specified irreparable damage” will occur before the three-judge court is convened.27
This court expresses no opinion at this time on the merits of the pending Motion for
Preliminary Injunction that has been referred to the three-judge panel for determination.

CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiffs’ Motion for a Temporary Restraining
Order, which sought an immediate order from a single judge prohibiting the continuing
implementation of the Amended Proclamation Plan prior to the determination of the
Motion for Preliminary Injunction by the three-judge panel, is DENIED.
DATED at Anchorage, Alaska this 15th day of June, 2012.
/s/ Sharon L. Gleason
United States District Judge

27

This finding is premised on the assumption that the three-judge panel will be able to meet and
determine the Motion for Preliminary Injunction long before the scheduled August 28, 2012
election.

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