Case 5:08-cv-00450-CLS Document 296 Filed 11/07/11 Page 1 of 450 FILED 2011 Nov-07 PM 04:10 U.S. DISTRICT COURT N.D. OF ALABAMA UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA NORTHEASTERN DIVISION INDIA LYNCH, a minor who sues ) by her parent, SHAWN KING ) LYNCH, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) Civil Action No. 08-S-450-NE ) THE STATE OF ALABAMA, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) CORRECTED MEMORANDUM OF OPINION Entered November 7, 2011, nunc pro tunc October 21, 2011 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS Topic Page I. INTRODUCTION. 1 A. THE CENTRALITY OF RACE. 5 B. STATEMENT OF THE CASE. 15 C. THE “BLACK BELT,” “BIG MULES,” AND OTHER TERMS. 45 II. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS . 97 A. STANDING. 97 B. TAX INJUNCTION ACT. 107 C. COMITY. 115 D. ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY. 123 E. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF K-12 FUNDING IN ALABAMA. 139 F. THE COMPUTATION OF PROPERTY TAXES IN ALABAMA. 177 Case 5:08-cv-00450-CLS Document 296 Filed 11/07/11 Page 2 of 450 G. SUMMARY OF PREDECESSOR LITIGATION. 203 H. CONTROLLING PRINCIPLES OF LAW. 397 III. FINDINGS OF FACT. 453 A. FINDINGS OF HISTORICAL FACT. 453 B. FINDINGS OF FACT RELEVANT TO AN ASSESSMENT OF DISPARATE IMPACT ON THE BASIS OF RACE. 689 IV. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW. 757 A. DISCRIMINATORY INTENT. 757 B. DISPARATE IMPACT ON THE BASIS OF RACE.. 777 C. RATIONAL BASIS REVIEW. 787 D. TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 793 V. CONCLUSIONS. 795 VI. APPENDICES.. 805 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Page 843) ILLUSTRATIONS Alabama Counties (Showing Dates of Creation).. xxx Traditional Counties of the Alabama Black Belt. 44 Georgia in 1825 (Depicting the Confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers). 56 Plan of the Town of Petersburg, Georgia (in the Fork of the Broad and Savannah Rivers).. 60 Route of the Federal Road Through the Alabama Territory. 66 Map of Alabama’s Public School Systems.. 138 ii Case 5:08-cv-00450-CLS Document 296 Filed 11/07/11 Page 3 of 450 EXPANDED TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION A. The Centrality of Race. 5 1. The Slave Experience. 6 2. The Post-Emancipation Experience. 10 B. Statement of the Case. 15 1. The Plaintiffs and Their Contentions. 15 a. The state constitutional provisions challenged by plaintiffs. 18 i. Article XI, Section 214 — limiting the State tax rate. 19 ii. Article XI, Section 215 — limiting county tax rates.. 20 iii. Article XI, Section 216 — limiting municipal tax rates. 21 iv. Article XI, Section 217, as twice amended. 21 (A) Amendment 325, ratified in 1972. 22 (B) Amendment 373, ratified in 1978. 23 v. Article XIV, Section 269, as amended. 31 b. The injuries alleged by plaintiffs. 32 c. The relief sought by plaintiffs. 41 2. The Defendants and Their Contentions. 41 C. The “Black Belt,” “Big Mules,” and Other Terms. 45 1. The Defining Characteristics of the “Black Belt”. 47 a. The geology of the Black Belt.. 47 b. The social history of the Black Belt. 48 i. The origins of those persons who settled the region, and their society, education, and wealth. 50 iii Case 5:08-cv-00450-CLS Document 296 Filed 11/07/11 Page 4 of 450 ii. From the Virginia Piedmont to the Broad River Valley of Georgia.. 57 (A) The Virginians of the Broad River Valley. 58 (B) The Pope, Watkins, Thompson, Bibb, and Walker families of Petersburg, Georgia, and Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama.. 61 iii. From the Broad River Valley to the “Great Bend of the Tennessee River” in the Alabama Territory.. 65 iv. The Federal Road. 65 v. The War of 1812, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and the Opening of East-Central Alabama. 67 vi. From the Broad River Valley of Georgia to the Alabama Black Belt .. 68 vii. “The Georgia Machine”. 72 c. The demographic make-up of the Black Belt. 75 d. The enduring political influence of the Black Belt.. 78 2. “Big Mules”. 82 3. “Carpetbaggers”. 86 4. “Scalawags”. 87 5. “Radical Republicans”. 88 6. “Conservative Democrats” and “Bourbons”.. 89 7. “Black Codes”. 91 8. “Redeemers”.. 91 9. “Jim Crow laws”. 93 II. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS A. Standing. 97 B. Tax Injunction Act. 107 C. Comity.. ..