Changes

===Civil rights matters===

===Civil rights matters===

In 1962, at the request of the former Civil Aeronautics Board, the Shreveport city commissioners were sued by the U.S. government for enforcing [[segregation]] at  Shreveport Regional Airport, then under Mitchell's direction as public works commissioner. The city retained later [[U.S. Senator]] [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], as its legal representative to defend the longstanding segregated practice.  However, Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins, Jr. (1911-1982) the U.S. district court judge, ruled that the city could not compel segregation at the airport and enjoined the since defunct Dobbs House, Inc., [[restaurant]] from having separate seating and rest room arrangements at the airport location which it leased from the city. In his decision, Judge Dawkins decreed: "Racially segregated rest rooms and racially segregated dining facilities in an airport maintained for the use of passengers in [[interstate commerce]] by air carrier, which exist as a result of municipal action, impose an undue burden upon interstate commerce."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/210/36/1963435/|title=United States of America v. City of Shreveport, Louisiana|publisher=Justia.com|author=Benjamin C. Dawkins, Jr., chief judge|date=November 2, 1962|accessdate=June 22, 2014}</ref>

In 1962, at the request of the former Civil Aeronautics Board, the Shreveport city commissioners were sued by the U.S. government for enforcing [[segregation]] at  Shreveport Regional Airport, then under Mitchell's direction as public works commissioner. The city retained later [[U.S. Senator]] [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], as its legal representative to defend the longstanding segregated practice.  However, Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins, Jr. (1911-1982) the U.S. district court judge, ruled that the city could not compel segregation at the airport and enjoined the since defunct Dobbs House, Inc., [[restaurant]] from having separate seating and rest room arrangements at the airport location which it leased from the city. In his decision, Judge Dawkins decreed: "Racially segregated rest rooms and racially segregated dining facilities in an airport maintained for the use of passengers in [[interstate commerce]] by air carrier, which exist as a result of municipal action, impose an undue burden upon interstate commerce."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/210/36/1963435/|title=United States of America v. City of Shreveport, Louisiana|publisher=Law.justia.com|author=Benjamin C. Dawkins, Jr. (chief judge)|date=November 2, 1962|accessdate=June 22, 2014}</ref>

The [[African American]] [[civil rights]] interest group known as Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., filed a [[class action]] lawsuit against the City of Shreveport to force an end to the commission form of government. In 1974, blacks constituted 32 percent of the Shreveport population, but no African American had served on the city council, which since 1910 had consisted of four commissioners and the mayor. By the time of the 2010 U.S. census, forty years later, Shreveport was nearly 55 percent black in population.<ref>2010 General profile of housing and population characteristics for Shreveport from the U.S. Census</ref> BULL alleged that the inherent at-large feature of the commission government operated unconstitutionally to dilute the votes of blacks. The U.S. district court agreed and declared the commission government unconstitutional under the [[14th Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. The decision was affirmed in March 1978 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], by which time Mitchell had been out of office for nearly a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/571/f2d/248/blacks-united-for-lasting-leadership-inc-v-city-of-shreveport|title=Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, vs. the City of Shreveport, Defendants-Appellants|date=March 29, 1978|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=June 19, 2014}}</ref>

The [[African American]] [[civil rights]] interest group known as Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., filed a [[class action]] lawsuit against the City of Shreveport to force an end to the commission form of government. In 1974, blacks constituted 32 percent of the Shreveport population, but no African American had served on the city council, which since 1910 had consisted of four commissioners and the mayor. By the time of the 2010 U.S. census, forty years later, Shreveport was nearly 55 percent black in population.<ref>2010 General profile of housing and population characteristics for Shreveport from the U.S. Census</ref> BULL alleged that the inherent at-large feature of the commission government operated unconstitutionally to dilute the votes of blacks. The U.S. district court agreed and declared the commission government unconstitutional under the [[14th Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. The decision was affirmed in March 1978 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], by which time Mitchell had been out of office for nearly a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/571/f2d/248/blacks-united-for-lasting-leadership-inc-v-city-of-shreveport|title=Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, vs. the City of Shreveport, Defendants-Appellants|date=March 29, 1978|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=June 19, 2014}}</ref>