The Nation - News from July 23, 1985
The Justice Department joined blacks claiming they were being denied the right to vote and obtained a consent decree requiring Bessemer, Ala., to change its form of government. It was the first time the federal government had used a recently amended section of the Voting Rights Act intended to outlaw electoral rules that have the effect of diminishing black participation. Under terms of past settlements, Bessemer officials must change from a three-member city commission elected at large to a mayor-council form of government with six districts.
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