The Texas Tribune published an in-depth article regarding the latest voting rights lawsuit brought by Brewer Storefront, the firm’s community service legal affiliate. The firm recently filed a lawsuit against the Richardson Independent School District on behalf of plaintiff and former RISD Trustee David Tyson. The Dec. 11 article is titled “Richardson ISD’s student demographics have significantly changed. The makeup of its school board hasn’t.”
The article highlights the firm’s long track record of advocacy in the area of voting rights and states, “Over the last several years, William Brewer, a Dallas corporate lawyer with a reputation for playing hardball, has challenged North Texas school districts and city councils to change their elections systems — and his firm hasn’t lost a voting rights fight yet.”
The article is part of an education series being published by the Tribune titled “Dis-Integration.”
Lake Highlands Advocate Profiles Pro Bono Work by William Brewer
The Lake Highlands Advocate published a profile on October 10, 2018, of Partner William Brewer and his pro bono work through the Brewer Storefront, the community service legal affiliate of the firm. The article noted that the Storefront has prevailed in many voting rights lawsuits.
Brewer also discussed the most recent voting rights lawsuit brought by the Storefront, challenging the at-large election system used to elected the Richardson Independent School District Board of Trustees in North Texas.
“Our track record is that we don’t bring cases just to harass,” Brewer told the Advocate. “We bring cases where we believe change is needed and because we’ve done legal factual research.”
Dallas Morning News Watchdog Columnist Applauds Brewer Storefront TOMA Action
Dallas Morning News Watchdog Columnist Dave Lieber wrote a column, “Here’s How a Trustee Says School Boards Violate Texas Open Meetings Law,” dated August 3, 2018, that explores a newly filed Brewer Storefront Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) lawsuit. The column focuses on a lawsuit filed by Brewer Storefront, the firm’s community service legal affiliate, against Richardson Independent School District (RISD) and the RISD Board of Trustees.
In part, Lieber writes that the “12-page lawsuit is the most detailed explanation The Watchdog has seen for how a public government board can ignore the open meetings law.” He writes that the Brewer Storefront plaintiff is “showing leadership here by standing up to a widespread secretive culture that enables public officials to keep private what's supposed to be public.”
Lieber is a veteran Dallas/Fort Worth investigative journalist whose focuses on “exposing bad practices in business and government.”
Lawsuit Claims Richardson ISD Trustees Violated Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA)
Brewer Storefront filed a lawsuit on July 6, 2018, in Texas state court on behalf of plaintiff David Tyson, Jr. against the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) and the seven members of the RISD Board of Trustees, alleging that they have continuously and systematically violated the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA). The fundamental tenet of TOMA is that, except for certain narrowly construed exceptions, all meetings of a governmental body must be open to the public. However, the complaint states that, instead of conducting all meetings in public, the Board members are “coordinating a backroom consensus” outside the view of the public.
The lawsuit states that, over the last seven years alone, the Board has voted unanimously on the overwhelming majority of more than 500 votes, and alleges that the votes were not preceded by any meaningful discussions or deliberations at the meetings at which the votes occurred. According to the complaint, plaintiff requests that all actions taken in violation of TOMA be declared void.
“Our client believes that Richardson ISD trustees are not being fully transparent about the operations of the school district,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for plaintiff David Tyson. “Through its alleged violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, the Board has deprived the citizens of Richardson of the right to know how the Board reaches its decisions – and denied them their lawful right to participate in the democratic process.”
An article in The Dallas Morning News, dated July 10, 2018, reports on the lawsuit and its significance to the local community. The Lake Highlands Advocate also reported on the filing.
Richardson ISD Slaps Back At Ex-Trustee Who Filed Voting Rights Suit, Says System Isn't Broken
The Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland reported on March 12, 2018, "Richardson ISD, you’re on the wrong side of this lawsuit." The column explores a voting rights lawsuit filed recently by the Brewer Storefront against Richardson ISD. The column observes, "When the only minority trustee who has ever been elected tells you that the system is broken and that minority parents feel disengaged, and when the system isn't working out well for students of color, 'That should be reason enough to get to the table,' said firm partner William A. Brewer III."
Ragland interviewed Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD board member Candace Valenzuela, who became the first Latina and African-American female elected to that board following a previous Brewer Storefront lawsuit against that district that resulted in a successful settlement. Valenzuela commented, "People don't understand that voting is a feedback loop, meaning that if you're in a group that's been disproportionately underrepresented, it discourages participation... By facilitating for the community, you're going to get a lot more participation."
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/03/09/richardson-isd-slaps-back-ex-trustee-filed-voting-rights-lawsuit-says-system-isnt-broken
Storefront Lawsuit Claims Richardson ISD Electoral System Violates Voting Rights Act
Brewer Storefront filed suit in federal court on January 26, 2018, on behalf of plaintiff David Tyson, Jr. against the Richardson Independent School District (RISD), alleging that the school district’s election system violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it denies fair representation to African Americans and other non-white voters. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, the lawsuit claims that the school district’s at-large voting system denies African American, Latino 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.
“Many in the community – our client included – believe that Richardson ISD is unfairly denying people of color an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for plaintiffDavid Tyson. “Our hope is that the school board’s leadership will recognize its responsibility to embrace a more inclusive future – one that provides representation for this multiracial and ethnically diverse school district.”
KERA News reported on the lawsuit, and The Dallas Morning News also published a front page article about the case, and Fox 4 Dallas aired a TV report on the lawsuit.
Dallas Morning News Columnist James Ragland also wrote favorably about the case in a column titled, "It's time to change how Richardson ISD elects its trustees, and David Tyson is the man to do it."
The New York Times Reports on Brewer Storefront Client Jim’s Shoe Repair
The New York Times reported on Brewer Storefront client Jim’s Shoe Repair, a treasured New York City business. Faced with losing its shop in Midtown to accommodate the expansion of Duane Reade, located next door, Jim’s engaged Managing Partner William Brewer, a longtime customer, and the Brewer Storefront to engineer an advocacy campaign to help save the business. The legal strategy, grassroots petition drive, PR campaign, and social media effort generated a wave of public support – allowing the business to successfully challenge eviction and secure a new lease agreement for the location it has called home for almost 70 years.