In addition to the clarity of the Virginia statutes, support for the District Court's refusal to stay the proceedings is found in the nature of the constitutional deprivation alleged and the probable consequences of abstaining. The District Court was faced with two class actions attacking a statutory scheme allegedly impairing the right to vote in violation of Art. I, § 2, and the Fourteenth, Seventeenth and Twenty-fourth Amendments.... In appraising the motion to stay proceedings, the District Court was thus faced with a claimed impairment of the fundamental civil rights of a broad class of citizens. The motion was heard about two months prior to the deadline for meeting the statutory requirements and just eight months before the 1964 general elections. Given the importance and immediacy of the problem, and the delay inherent in referring questions of state law to state tribunals, it is evident that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to abstain.
EXHIBIT 1 | ||
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE | ||
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA | ||
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ROBERT E. BADHAM, ROBERT W. NAYLOR, | ) | |
ERIC SEASTRAND, ALDO SILVESTRI, | ) | C-83-1126-RHS |
MICHAEL W. COBB, FRANK O. VERLOT, | ) | |
DONNA S. RICHARDSON, PETER SCHRAGER, | ) | |
JANE BAKER, CHARLES A. MEYER, | ) | |
KIRK LINDSEY, DONALD DRISCOLL, ROGER | ) | |
T. ERICKSON, D.D.S., | ) | |
) | ||
Plaintiffs, | ) | MEMORANDUM OPINION |
vs. | ) | |
) | ||
MARCH FONG EU, Secretary of the State of the | ) | |
State of California, | ) | |
) | ||
Defendant, | ) | |
) | ||
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA | ) | |
and THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC | ) | |
CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, | ) | |
) | ||
Defendants-Intervenors, | ) | |
) |
“Any maps describing the boundaries of the districts, as contained in this division, which have been prepared by the Legislature or a committee of the Legislature in connection with the enactment of this division may be deposited with the Secretary of State in order to illustrate the boundary lines set forth in this division. Maps deposited with the Secretary of State pursuant to this section may be used by the Secretary of State and the several county clerks for the purposes of assisting in the interpretation of this division and to facilitate the Secretary of State and county clerks in their administrative functions involved in the conduct of elections.”
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