Federal Judge Rules Milton, Sister Cities Can Keep Charters

About a year ago, Sandy Springs city attorney Wendell Willard said the lawsuit filed against it, Milton and their sister cities by the Georgia Black Legislative Caucus had no merit.

U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. has dismissed the case. Milton, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek and Chattahoochee Hills were named in the lawsuit.

In March 2011, in federal court over claims that forming the new cities was a violation of minority voting rights. The plantiffs sought to dissolve each city’s charter citing a violation of the Voting Rights Act and state legislative procedure. The caucus also wanted to launch a preemptive strike against the formation of Milton County.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a portion of Batten’s opinion: "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."

Jerome Lee, an attorney for the Caucus, believes Batten, a former Sandy Springs resident, has a conflict of interest, the AJC reported. Lee added that he plans to appeal.