The United States Supreme Court announced on Monday that they would not hear the Town of Hempstead's appeal of the Federal and Circuit Courts' decisions which said that the Town's at-large voting system was racially discriminatory and ordered that the municipality be divided into six councilmanic districts, one district being made up primarily of minorities.

The Goosby case, as it is popularly known, began in 1988, brought forth by attorney Frederick Brewington, with the lead plaintiffs being two African-Americans and two Latinos, alleging that the town was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with its at-large voting system. Dorothy Goosby, who became the most well known of the plaintiffs, ran for a position on the town board many years ago and lost and then ran again this past November and won a position on the board.

The Goosby case has gone through both the trial and appellate levels since 1988 and this summer the Second Circuit Court Panel ruled against the town. Early this fall a federal appeals court refused to hear the case, prompting the Town of Hempstead to ask the United States Supreme Court to hear the town's appeal.

The class action lawsuit claimed that African Americans, who make up 12 percent of the Town of Hempstead, do not have fair representation under the current voting system, whereby residents vote on all six members of the town board. Under a councilmanic ward system residents in each of the areas would only vote on the councilmember from their own area.

Brewington, following the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the town's appeal, stated, "I'm ecstatic. This is now the final chapter in the series of appeals that the Town has implemented and they no longer have any place to run and hide. They must now adhere to the wishes of the people."

The Town of Hempstead received much criticism for appealing the case, with critics such as Goosby herself, who earlier this month was inducted as the second African American member of the town board, saying that the town was wasting taxpayer money by appealing the case. There have been estimates that the appeal process cost the town $1 million.

Goosby found out about the Supreme Court's decision when Town Supervisor Richard Guardino called to congratulate her. In an interview following the decision, Goosby said, "After 12 years of waiting, it finally came about. What it does, is it proves that if something is right, no matter how long it takes, as long as you persist, it will come out. I'm very happy about it and it will make a big difference for everyone that lives in the Town of Hempstead." Goosby went on to say that she believes that the councilmanic system will bring unity within the town.

The next step in the process of going councilmanic will be for a special town election to be held. The lawyers for both the plaintiffs and the town will be meeting with the US District Court Judge John Gleeson, who made the original ruling against the town, to finalize the maps of the six districts and to set a date for the special election.

Guardino, who has continuously argued that the at-large voting system was not only fair but that councilmanic districts would impinge the rights of residents, allowing them to vote for only one member of a six-member board that will make decisions that affect all residents, released a written statement to the press, following the court's decision. "We have taken steps to assure the town's compliance with orders that have been issued by the lower courts. I continue to believe that the residents of the Town of Hempstead are not voting on the basis of race but on the issues and that the November 1999 election clearly proved this," said Guardino. "Our residents have told us repeatedly they would prefer to vote for six town council members rather than one. However, the town board members with whom I have spoken agree with me that the time has come to end this matter."

The supervisor's statement goes on to say, "Attorneys for the Goosby plaintiffs have been quoted in press accounts as saying that as soon as all appeals in this matter have been exhausted, they will ask the courts to order a special election to implement a ward system. We will join with the plaintiffs in seeking implementation of a ward system, including a special election to determine the representation of each ward, as soon as possible."

Despite the plaintiff's earlier claims that they wanted to have this issue settled as soon as possible, Goosby now says she wants to make sure that residents have time to be educated about what this decision means for the town, before they vote on their representatives. "It must be done correctly," said Goosby. "We've waited 12 years for this, so how can it be done in a month or two?" Goosby said that part of the problem with government is that the residents don't understand it and don't know what to do. She said she wants people to have the time not only to know what this means but to know when and where they must vote in the special election.

When asked if she would be running for re-election in the special election, Goosby, who resides in what would be the 3rd District which includes Hempstead, Uniondale, part of Rockville Centre, part of Westbury, part of West Hempstead, part of Freeport, Lakeview and Roosevelt, responded, "Oh yes."

A representative from the Democratic headquarters stated that the three Democrats who won election in November would be running again but that no decisions have been made regarding who the party will be running in the remaining three districts.

Tony Santino, executive assistant to Republican Party Chairman Joseph Mondello, stated that as of right now no decisions have been made about who the Republican Party would be running as candidates in the special election because the party is waiting to find out exactly where the district lines will be drawn and when the election will take place. Prior to November's election, when three Republicans lost their town board seats, the Town of Hempstead board had been entirely Republican.

Santino, who is also a councilman for the Town of Hempstead, noted, "We're looking forward to this opportunity because the Town of Hempstead, under Republican leadership has an outstanding record. We have a budget surplus, we have a no tax-increase budget this year, we have a great bond rating from Wall Street, so we're very happy to be taking that record to the people of the Town of Hempstead but in terms of individual candidacies, those decisions have not been made yet." In reference to the current budget surplus in the Town of Hempstead, Santino stated, "There are 56 million reasons to vote Republican in the Town of Hempstead and that's our $56 million budget surplus." He said that the Republican Party is actively reviewing all the possible candidates at the present time.