Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008...6:07 pm
DAlaska: Burgess Resolves Part of Bethel Voting Rights Case
U. S. District Judge Timothy Burgess has resolved several issues raised by Yup’ik voters who sued the City of Bethel and the State of Alaska under the federal Voting Rights Act. In one Order issued this Wednesday afternoon, Burgess held:
Because Plaintiffs have failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Yup’ik was a historically written language, the Court GRANTS the State Defendants’ motion and holds that the State need only provide oral assistance to Yup’ik speakers in the Bethel census area. This ruling does not, however, address or affect the Plaintiffs’ argument that the Defendants may need to produce certain written materials in order to provide effective oral assistance to Yup’ik voters.
Order # 1. Burgess’s Order reviews the ethnographic record in detail.
In a separate Order, Burgess held that two Bethel voters had standing, and that their claims were not barred by the 2-year state statute of limitations incorporated by the Voting Rights Act. Burgess also found a genuine issue of material fact concerning the City of Bethel’s compliance with the Voting Rights Act. Finally, he denied defendants’ request to strike deposition testimony that was later “corrected” under Civil Rule 30(e), finding no prejudice to defendants. Order # 2.
Burgess didn’t resolve the Section 5 “pre-clearance” issues in the case, which must be handled by a three-judge court, here comprised of Burgess, 9th Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown, and Senior District Court Judge James Singleton.
Nick v. City of Bethel, 3:07-cv-0098 TMB (D.Alaska Orders of July 23, 2008)
07/24/08 Update: Bill Poser’s post on Language Log links to the Complaint and various Rule 56 filings. and provides commentary.
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