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Friend, It was a typical Friday afternoon in Newbern, Alabama, when vehicles started arriving in the parking lot across the street from the town hall complex. Outside of timber-hauling season, traffic through the center of town along State Road 61 is never busy. And, since the closing of the mercantile store across the street from the town hall, few vehicles have stopped to hang around. But on July 26, several people parked and waited until newly reinstated Mayor Patrick Braxton arrived. What was special about this particular afternoon is that Braxton, the town’s first Black mayor, was about to take possession of the keys to the town hall after a U.S. district judge in Mobile signed off on a settlement agreement between Braxton and the town on July 23. That agreement, negotiated on Braxton’s behalf by attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco, ended a years-long journey for Braxton to take his place as mayor of the town. The LDF attorneys took over the case shortly after one defendant filed a motion to move it to federal court, where heightened visibility led to viral media coverage. This was the second time Braxton assumed the responsibilities of office. The first time, on Nov. 2, 2020, he was sworn in with a ceremony in the traditional manner. But in subsequent days, Braxton said, he faced obstacles at every turn. He contends that the previous mayor and administration blocked him from accessing the city’s accounts, records, post office box and town hall while enacting a plan to remove him from office. On July 26, Braxton waited until after 3 p.m., when outgoing Mayor Haywood Stokes III promised he would leave the keys and town documents for Braxton. Stokes, along with the four former town council members and the town clerk, agreed to step down from their official positions as part of the settlement that returned Braxton to power. This came three years and five months after those same council members voted to remove Braxton from office. In the settlement, the town of Newbern admitted that it had deprived citizens of their voting rights for decades, because the town had held no municipal elections. The offices of mayor and council member were simply passed from one administration to another without a vote.
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