Spectrum News 1 Reports on Brewer Storefront Voting Rights Case
On April 30, 2022, Spectrum News 1 reported on a voting rights lawsuit brought on behalf of plaintiff Paige Dixon by Brewer Storefront challenging Lewisville ISD’s system of electing trustees. The lawsuit argues that the election system violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and denies equal representation to people of color.
William Brewer, Dixon’s attorney, said that many Texas school districts are diverse but that is not reflected on school boards because of at-large voting systems used to elect trustees. “That means that if you have a voting [bloc] that is involved, turns out at the ballot box, that group can control the election of all seven seats,” he said.
Brewer said that similar lawsuits will continue to come up as the state grows and more school districts with at-large election systems have gaps in representation.
Dixon lives in Lewisville and ran for the Lewisville ISD school board last year and lost.
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DMN Columnist Quotes Partner on Importance of the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA)
Dallas Morning News Watchdog Columnist Dave Lieber quoted Partner William Brewer in a column that appeared on the front page of the March 15, 2019 Metro Section print edition of the newspaper. The column was critical of a recent Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision striking down a key provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) that outlaws “walking quorums.”
Such walking quorums occur when a governing body meets in a smaller group to avoid a quorum and deliberates on future actions in secret, thus circumventing the TOMA requirement that meetings that constitute a quorum must be held in public. The Storefront, the firm’s pro bono community service affiliate, has previously brought lawsuits under this provision.
Additionally, the column highlighted that Brewer has sued several local school districts over voting rights and also has brought lawsuits over open meetings violations.
Brewer discussed the importance of open government: "People act better when they include all points of view, and they have to make a decision out in the open,” he said. “Government works better in the cleansing light of these sunshine laws.”
Lawsuit Claims Lewisville ISD Electoral System Violates Voting Rights Act of 1965
Brewer Storefront filed suit in federal court on February 12, 2019, on behalf of plaintiff Frank Vaughan, against the Lewisville Independent School District (LISD) and its trustees, alleging that the school district’s election system violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, the lawsuit claims that the school district’s at-large voting system denies Hispanic, African American and Asian voters a fair opportunity to elect school board representatives of their choice. The Storefront is the community service legal affiliate of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
The lawsuit alleges that, based on the district’s demographics, one would expect that a Latino, African American or Asian school board member could be elected. Yet, all seven school board members are white.
“Our client believes the voting scheme utilized by Lewisville ISD unfairly denies people of color a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing – trustees that represent their interests, schools and communities,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for plaintiff Frank Vaughan. “We believe the school board should adopt a more representative electoral process to serve this multiracial and ethnically diverse school district.”
The Dallas Morning News published an article about the lawsuit on the front page of the newspaper’s print edition on February 13. Other local media outlets reported on the lawsuit, including Community Impact and The Cross Timbers Gazette.