A federal district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the state which sought to dissolve the cities of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills.
The lead attorney for the Legislative Black Caucus, which filed the suit last April, called the decision "shocking" and said he would appeal.
"We're disappointed in what we see as a very political decision," said attorney Jerome Lee. "Essentially, the judge found a legal fault."
A spokesman for Attorney General Sam Olens declined to comment.
The suit alleged that the state skirted the normal legislative process and set aside its own criteria when creating the "super-majority white" cities within DeKalb and Fulton counties. In so doing, the suit argued, it diluted minority votes in those areas, violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.
Sandy Springs incorporated in December 2005. The other cities followed over the next three years.
In its motion to dismiss, the Attorney General's Office argued that incorporation of the cities created new governmental bodies, not a redistricting of existing governmental bodies. The new cities do not diminish anyone's existing right to vote and did not violate the Voting Rights Act, it said.
"Nor did the creation of these municipalities discriminate on the basis of race [or any suspect class, for that matter] and does not violate equal protection, " the state's motion stated.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. called the caucus's remedy -- dissolving the charters of all five cities -- untenable.
"If the court were to adopt plaintiffs’ proposed benchmark, it would effectively prohibit the state from creating a municipality in any area that is predominantly white but is located within a majority-black county," Batten wrote in his opinion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
Batten is a former resident of Sandy Springs, an issue Lee said he plans to raise in his appeal.
Lee said it is unusual to have a civil rights case dismissed before discovery, the time in civil proceedings when each party can obtain evidence from the other.
Ultimately, Lee said he is excited about the prospects on appeal.
"On the flip side of it, we're very excited he did do it this way," he said. "His opinion as written, based on what it's based on, has zero chance of surviving judicial scrutiny here in the 11th Circuit, much less at the Supreme Court level."
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