Response awaited in lawsuit over new JP districts

The next step in the process involving JP Adonis Hopper's lawsuit against the Mississippi County Election Commission will be for the defendants to file an answer with the circuit court, according to Hopper's attorney, Mike Bearden.

"This lawsuit is based on the fact that when the map was drawn initially," said Bearden, "it was based purely on population, and Adonis had almost 100 percent rural area in her district. With the chosen map, it is my position that she has been denied equal protection under the law, because now her district lies mainly within the city of Blytheville. Changing the map because Justices (Emmanuel) Lofton and (Hattie) Middlebrook didn't want to be in the same district is not a legitimate reason."

Bearden said part of the lawsuit was a request for a declaratory judgement, which means that a judge would review the records and place a hold on further JP elections until a new map can be adopted.

"The main reason for this whole thing is that I'm a rural representative, and the population [from the 2010 Census] dropped within city limits, so that's where lines should have been drawn," said Hopper. "I don't live in the city of Blytheville. I don't have a vote or a voice there, yet now that's where I'm supposed to be a representative, and I don't think it's right. Now they have a representative who lives in the city representing the rural areas that used to be my constituency, and they don't live here and drive these roads like I do."

Hopper pointed out that before the redistricting process began, the city of Blytheville had five JP representatives on the Quorum Court, and despite the significant drop in population in the past 10 years, the newly adopted map still places five reps within city limits.

"I just feel that they need to re-evaluate the situation and adopt a different map," she said. "My constituents support and agree with me. I live in this rural area, grew up here, know these people and do all I can for them, and I don't live in the city where my new representation area will be."

Hopper did say she plans to run for re-election whatever the outcome of the lawsuit is, even if she remains placed in a more urban district.

Election commissioner Tom Wiktorek is the sole member of the commission who voted against the currently disputed map, and says that he did so because of its lack of equal population distribution.

"I voted against it because it put five districts in the city of Blytheville and that made it unfair. The city only needs four districts within it, and that's why I felt the third draft of the map was better than the one that was adopted," he said.

Justice Hattie Middlebrook, a defendant in the suit, said that she was "blindsided" by news of the lawsuit.

"I'm surprised to be named," she said, "Justice Lofton and myself don't have any control over that process, and I can't see that we should be named instead of the entire Court, when we did nothing different from the rest of them. But I will be seeking the advice of an attorney before I say anything else."

Justice Emmanuel Lofton, also listed as a defendant, declined to comment on the issue but said that it is everyone's right to use the system to seek justice.

"When people feel that they have not been treated fairly, they have the right to take it to the courts. That's their freedom, and you can't take freedom away from people in this country," he said.

Commissioners George Hale and Bobbie Hampton, who did vote in favor of the disputed map, both said that they preferred to hold their comments until a later time.

sharris@blythevillecourier.com